Youth Empowerment Services (YES) is the mental health system of care in Idaho for children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) — a term used to identify children under the age of 18 who have both a mental health diagnosis and a functional impairment. The YES Program uses a child and family centered, team-based, strengths and needs focused approach for early identification, treatment planning, and implementation of care.
- Children under the age of 18 years old
- Children with a complete assessment that identifies an SED
- Children of families that have income under 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG)
- If your child is approved for the Medicaid YES Program and your income is between 185% and 300% of the FPG, a premium (share of cost) may be assessed based on your family’s income. If you are unable to pay the premium, your child’s eligibility will not be impacted.
Children with an SED and functional impairment may be eligible for YES services even if their family income is above 300% of the FPG through the Division of Behavioral Health. To get a screening for non-Medicaid YES services, call Magellan Healthcare at 855-202-0973.
What's Covered
The application process for the Medicaid YES Program has two steps.
- Complete a functional assessment through Liberty Healthcare.
- If your child is determined to have an SED, you can then apply for Medicaid using the Medicaid application process below.
The functional assessment will determine if the child has a Serious Emotional Disturbance. A Serious Emotional Disturbance refers to people who have a mental, behavioral or emotional issue that limits their ability to participate in family, school, or community activities. A person is identified as having Serious Emotional Disturbance if they have both a qualifying diagnosable mental illness and a substantial functional impairment.
To be assessed for Serious Emotional Disturbance, call Liberty Healthcare.
Call: 1-877-305-3469
Once you have completed the assessment process, you will receive written notice in the mail regarding the outcome of the assessment. If you have any questions about the application process, you may call 208-364-1910.
Once you have completed the assessment process, you will receive written notice in the mail regarding the outcome of the assessment. If the outcome is that your child has SED, the next step is to apply for Medicaid's YES Program. If you have any questions about the application process, you may call Self Reliance at 1-877-456-1233.