The MassHealth Community Support Program (CSP) delivers behavioral health services through community-based, mobile paraprofessionals to eligible MassHealth members diagnosed with mental health or substance use disorders. CSP services support member empowerment, recovery, and wellness while increasing a member’s independence, allowing them to manage their own behavioral health and medical services. The program is a core part of Massachusetts’s broader strategy to reduce reliance on inpatient psychiatric care and strengthen community-level behavioral health support.
What Services Does the MassHealth Community Support Program Provide?
The MassHealth Community Support Program provides an array of community-based services that directly address the behavioral, social, and medical barriers preventing members from living independently. CSP provides services that help a member live in the community, such as service planning and coordination, assisting with obtaining benefits, and helping members with their activities of daily living. These services are mobile and delivered in real-world community settings rather than clinical offices, which allows paraprofessionals to meet members where they are.
CSP services are not static. Services vary over time in response to the member’s ability to use their strengths and coping skills to achieve their goals independently. This adaptive structure ensures that the level of support scales down as a member builds the capacity to self-manage, rather than creating long-term dependency.
The 6 core service areas the MassHealth Community Support Program covers include:
- Building personalized care plans aligned with each member’s recovery goals
- Helping members navigate and obtain government and healthcare benefits
- Assistance with practical tasks that reinforce community independence
- Connecting members to mental health and substance use disorder treatment
- Ensuring members access and consistently use physical health services
- Proactive strategies to reduce emergency department visits and inpatient admissions
Who Is Eligible for the MassHealth Community Support Program?
CSP is available to any eligible MassHealth member who is enrolled in any managed care plan, as well as those who are in Fee-for-Service. However, clinical eligibility requires meeting specific medical necessity criteria set by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS).
To qualify, the member must have a behavioral health disorder diagnosis and must demonstrate a need for behavioral health diversionary services, placing them at risk of admission to 24-hour behavioral health inpatient services. The member must also voluntarily consent to CSP and demonstrate the ability to participate in all aspects of services. Behavioral health disorders in this context include mental health and substance use disorders as defined by the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
To qualify, individuals must have had either a psychiatric hospitalizatio0n discharge within the past 180 days, multiple emergency room visits within the past 90 days, or documented barriers to accessing and consistently utilizing essential medical and behavioral health services. No prior authorization is required for standard CSP services, which reduces administrative barriers for both members and providers.
What Are the 3 Specialized CSP Programs Under MassHealth?
Beyond the standard Community Support Program, MassHealth funds 3 specialized CSP tracks designed to serve populations with unique circumstances and barriers. Each specialized program retains the core structure of mobile paraprofessional support but adapts its services to address specific social and legal contexts.
The 3 specialized MassHealth Community Support Programs are:
- CSP for Homeless Individuals (CSP-HI): CSP-HI is a health-related social needs service for members who have found a permanent supportive housing opportunity and will be moving into that housing within 120 days. It includes pre-tenancy supports, assistance transitioning into housing, and ongoing coordination of physical and behavioral health services to help members sustain tenancy.
- CSP for Individuals with Justice Involvement (CSP-JI): CSP-JI is a specialized service designed to meet the health-related social needs of MassHealth members involved in the justice system who face barriers accessing, or consistently using, medical and behavioral health services. Members can be referred by the Department of Correction, probation and parole staff, or community agencies like the Department of Mental Health.
- Standard CSP: Available to any MassHealth member meeting the core medical necessity criteria, regardless of housing or justice-system status, delivered through licensed community-based organizations across Massachusetts.
How Does the MassHealth CSP Support Recovery and Independence?
The MassHealth Community Support Program is built on a recovery-oriented philosophy that treats members as active participants in their own care rather than passive recipients of services. Recovery coaches and recovery support navigators provide nonjudgmental problem solving, navigation, and advocacy to help members meet their recovery goals. These roles are filled by individuals with lived experience of mental health or substance use disorders, which establishes credibility and trust between members and support staff.
Certified Peer Specialists are people with lived experience of a mental health disorder trained to mentor a member experiencing a mental health disorder, while Recovery Coaches are people with lived experience of substance use disorders and recovery trained to help peers explore recovery. Recovery Support Navigators, meanwhile, provide care coordination, case management, and motivational support that connect members to long-term resources beyond the scope of the CSP engagement.
This multi-role team structure means that a CSP member in Massachusetts does not receive support from a single paraprofessional but from a network of trained individuals, each addressing a distinct dimension of their recovery. The program’s mobile delivery model reinforces independence by providing support within the contexts members actually inhabit, not inside clinical settings designed around institutional convenience.
How Do You Apply for the MassHealth Community Support Program?
Applying for the MassHealth Community Support Program involves 3 pathways depending on a member’s current circumstances and support network.
The first pathway is self-referral. Members who would like to self-refer to the Community Support Program should contact a CSP provider in their area using the provider list published by MassHealth. This list is available directly on the Mass.gov website and is updated regularly, most recently as of May 2025.
The second pathway is a provider or agency referral. Members may be referred by social service provider agencies and health care agencies. This includes hospitals, community health centers, outpatient mental health programs, and substance use treatment providers who identify members who meet CSP medical necessity criteria.
The third pathway applies specifically to members already enrolled in MassHealth managed care plans. In this case, a member’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or Managed Care Organization (MCO) can identify and refer eligible members based on service utilization history, such as repeated emergency department use or a recent inpatient psychiatric discharge.
CSP services are available via community outreach, telehealth, and in-person delivery. MassHealth accepts CSP billing from licensed community-based organizations that meet state regulations under 130 CMR 461.000.
What Is the Difference Between CSP and the MassHealth Community Partners Program?
The Community Support Program (CSP) and the MassHealth Community Partners (CP) Program are both community-based behavioral health initiatives, but they serve distinct functions and member populations.
CSP services are provided by community-based mobile paraprofessionals and focus on empowerment, recovery, and wellness for members with behavioral health disorders. The program is short-term, typically spanning 3 to 6 months, and is available to all MassHealth members who meet medical necessity criteria.
The Community Partners Program, by contrast, consists of community-based entities that provide enhanced care coordination to MassHealth members with complex needs who are enrolled in ACOs, MCOs, or affiliated with the Department of Mental Health. Community Partners include both Behavioral Health CPs, which serve members with serious mental illness and substance use disorders, and Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) CPs, which serve members with physical and developmental disabilities or brain injuries.
The key distinction: CSP delivers direct paraprofessional support focused on behavioral health recovery, while the CP Program provides systemic care coordination for medically complex members embedded within managed care structures.
Conclusion
The MassHealth Community Support Program addresses a critical gap in the behavioral health system by delivering mobile, recovery-oriented support to members who face serious barriers to independent living. With 3 specialized tracks covering homeless individuals, justice-involved members, and the general MassHealth population, the program ensures that support reaches members across a range of social circumstances. Members who meet medical necessity criteria, including a behavioral health diagnosis and demonstrated risk of inpatient admission, can access CSP through self-referral, provider referral, or their managed care plan, with no prior authorization required.
Connecticut Medical Billing helps CSP providers stay compliant with MassHealth billing regulations under 130 CMR 461.000.
FAQs
Does the MassHealth Community Support Program require prior authorization?
No prior authorization is required for standard CSP services. No prior authorization is required, but payment for CSP services is subject to all general conditions of MassHealth, including member eligibility, other insurance, and program restrictions.
How long does the MassHealth Community Support Program last?
CSP is a short-term service. CSP is a mobile, short-term intensive case management service, typically lasting 3 to 6 months, with services continuing until the provider determines they are no longer medically necessary.
Can a MassHealth member refuse CSP services without losing benefits?
Yes. Participation in CSP is voluntary. MassHealth requires that the member voluntarily consents to CSP and has the ability to participate in all aspects of services.
Who provides MassHealth Community Support Program services?
The Community Support Program is part of a larger organization that provides behavioral health services and is licensed within the state of Massachusetts. Providers include organizations like Eliot Community Human Services, Riverside Community Care, Behavioral Health Network, Boston Medical Center Corp., and Clinical and Support Options, among others listed in the MassHealth CSP Provider Directory.