The Massachusetts CTC Care Resource Coordination Program: COVID-19

The following is from the Partners in Health Newsletter (link at bottom for full report):

BACKGROUND In April 2020, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Governor Charlie Baker created a statewide COVID-19 contact tracing program to support local health departments’ contact tracing efforts. The Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) is a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), Massachusetts Health Connector, Partners In Health (PIH), and Accenture. The CTC dramatically scaled up the state’s capacity to reach Massachusetts residents who test positive for COVID-19, to collect their close contacts, and, importantly, to enable safe isolation and quarantine— all critical actions to respond to the pandemic (Figure 1). This case study focuses on a unique and essential component of the CTC’s approach to contact tracing: the Care Resource Coordination (CRC) program. Wraparound social supports are critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and improving individual health outcomes. The CTC’s CRC program ensures these supports reach those who need them to promote safe isolation and quarantine. The CTC was a pioneer among national tracing programs in its efforts to integrate and scale CRC services early in the pandemic.

THE COMMUNITY TRACING COLLABORATIVE The MA CTC program is designed to supplement, rather than replace, the state’s local health departments (LHD) in contact tracing, case investigation, and supported isolation and quarantine. Each of MA’s 351 LHDs determines how much support from the CTC it needs at a given time. In some towns, the LHD assigns all case investigation and contact tracing efforts to the CTC, whereas in others the LHD manages all their cases locally. A team of Local Health Liaisons (LHLs) on the CTC regularly connects with LHDs and collaborates on how the CTC can support their community. By January 2021, during the peak of the second surge, the CTC was assigned to call approximately 60-70% of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts.?

CARE RESOURCE COORDINATION PROGRAM MODEL

CENTRALLY COORDINATED, LOCALLY IMPLEMENTED In Massachusetts, the CRC program is integrated directly with contact tracing and case investigation and fits within the CTCs overarching operational and management structure. The CRC Program is its own team within the CTC, and the CRCs are assigned to sub-teams based on their geographic expertise to work with cases and contacts within this region.

TEAM COMPOSITION The CRCs are specifically hired for their place-based knowledge and experience working in MA. At its staffing peak, the CRC cadre spoke more than 19 languages and included experienced professionals in social work, nursing, psychology, public health, and other disciplines. During an early hiring push, the CTC actively worked with the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers to recruit CRCs. Additionally, the CTC collaborated with many local Federally Qualified Community Health Centers who assigned staff (often their CHWs) to work as CRCs. CRCs are geographically assigned, with consideration of their experience and familiarity, to three primary geographies in Massachusetts: West, East, and Metro Boston. They work within their teams, through outreach to the communities, to develop extensive resource libraries and form strong and effective local partnerships. Their diverse lived and professional experience makes it possible for CRCs to quickly identify resource pathways and to problem-solve complex referrals. The CTC also cultivates a collaborative environment that encourages peer-to-peer guidance and problem-solving

LT-CRC_case_study_MA_April_2021_Final.pdf (pih.org)