General Information For Families About "Children's Special Health Care Services" (CSHCS)

CSHCS strives to enable individuals with special health care needs to have improved health outcomes and an enhanced quality of life through the appropriate use of the CSHCS system of care.

Our goals are to:

• Assist individuals with special health care needs in accessing the broadest possible range of appropriate medical care, health education and supports.
• Ensure delivery of these services and supports in an accessible, family centered, culturally competent, community based and coordinated manner.
• Promote and incorporate parent/professional collaboration in all aspects of the program.
• Remove barriers that prevent individuals with special health care needs from achieving these goals.

Children's Special Health Care Services (CSHCS) is a program within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It is for children and some adults with special health care needs and their families.

To learn more about CSHCS, take the free Department of Health and Human Services on-line courses entitled "What is Children's Special Health Care Services." At this same site you will find another course entitled "CSHCS-Support Parent Training Course."

CSHCS is part of Title V of the Federal Social Security Act. Click here for more information about the Title V program.

CSHCS helps persons with chronic health problems by providing:

• Coverage and referral for specialty services based on the person's health problems.
• Family centered services to support you in your role as primary caretaker of your child.
• Community-based services to help you care for your child at home and maintain normal routines.
• Culturally competent services which demonstrate awareness of cultural differences.
• Coordinated services to pull together the services of many different providers who work within different agencies.

For more information:

• Contact your local CSHCS office
• Call our CSHCS Family Phone Line at 1-800-359-3722. Call this number or
• Write to the Family Center at cshcsfc@michigan.gov.

Several factors determine if a person is eligible for CSHCS:

Qualifying Medical condition:
CSHCS covers more than 2,700 physical conditions when certain criteria are met. NOTE: CSHCS does not cover developmental, behavioral or intellectual conditions. Click here for a list of these diagnoses. Severity, chronicity of the condition and the need for treatment by a specialist as evaluated by a MDHHS medical consultant.

Age:
Clients must be under the age of 26. Clients age 26 and above with cystic fibrosis, hereditary coagulation defects commonly known as hemophilia, or hereditary red blood cell disorders commonly known as sickle cell disease may also qualify.

Citizenship: The client, or a parent of the minor client, or court appointed guardian must be one of the following:

• A US citizen, or
• A documented non-citizen who has been admitted for permanent residence, or
• A non-citizen legally admitted migrant farm worker (i.e., seasonal agricultural worker).

Residency:

• Must be a Michigan resident

Eligibility:

• Is not based on income. Families with any income are eligible as long as the previous criteria are met.
• There is a fee to join CSHCS. This fee is waived if the client has Medicaid, MIChild, a court-appointed guardian or lives in a foster home. The fee is determined with a sliding scale based upon family income and family size. Please call the Local County Health Department CSHCS office or the Family Phone line at 1-800-359-3722 if you have specific questions about this fee.

For more information:

• Contact your local county health department CSHCS office
• Contact our CSHCS Family Phone Line at 1-800-359-3722 or cshcsfc@michigan.gov

The first step is to ask your specialist to submit a medical record less than one year old.  This information can be in the form of a letter or report that fully describes the condition and treatment plan.  Your specialist will need permission to send the medical information to CSHCS.  Click here for an Authorization to Disclose Protected Health Information form or the MSA-0838 form.

If the person with special needs has not seen a specialist or you have questions:
        Contact your local CSHCS office
        Call our CSHCS Family Phone Line at 1-800-359-3722 or
        Write to  cshcsfc@michigan.gov  

There is a yearly fee to join CSHCS:

• This fee is waived if the client has Medicaid, MIChild, a court-appointed guardian or lives in a foster home.
• The fee is determined on a scale based upon family income and family size.
• Please see the Payment Agreement Guide for details.

If you have any questions please call the Local County Health Department CSHCS office or the Family Phone Line at 1-800-359-3722 or email us at cshcsfc@michigan.gov.

CSHCS clients who have a payment agreement obligation can now make online payments at the pay place via credit card or e-check options