The Program for Improving Public Health Systems (PIPS)

The Shriver Center’s Program for Improving Public Health Systems (PIPS) offers training, certification, and support to Medicaid-funded behavioral health professionals in Massachusetts who serve children under the age of 21.

The Program for Improving Public Health Systems (PIPS) focuses on three areas:

  1. Training and Technical Support for the Assessment of Health and Behavioral Health Conditions in public sector systems:   1.)  Development, training, implementation and evaluation of universal screening and assessment tools; 2.) Workforce interventions to improve the quality of practice in public sector systems; 3.)  Support policy makers in developing data informed policy and regulatory decisions. 
  2. Study of Interventions to Improve the Quality of Health and Behavioral Health Services:  1.)  Research on the psychometric properties of assessment and screening tools; 2.) Application of implementation science to system wide interventions within public sector health and behavioral health services; 3.) Disparities in access to, the quality of, and outcomes related to the treatment and support for chronic health and behavioral health care needs.
  3. The Karpman Lab focuses on the use of simulation methodologies to support the validation and implementation of public sector behavioral health initiatives.

Funded by the MassHealth Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), the CANS Training Program seeks to improve and maintain the quality of behavioral health services for children, youth and their families. These trainings help providers enhance clinical skills, communication, information integration, and service planning.

PIPS in Plain Language

Education and Training