Testimony of Anita Morris, MSN, FNP-BC
Project Director, TEAM UP for Children
May 25, 2023
Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
H1184, An Act relative to health equity and community health workers
Anita Morris, Project Director, submitted Written Testimony to support her oral testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. TEAM UP urged the Committee members to support H.1184, An Act relative to health equity and community health workers.
Re: H1184, An Act relative to health equity and community health workers
Dear Chairs Friedman and Lawn and members of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on An Act relative to health equity and
community health workers (H.1184) on behalf of TEAM UP for Children (TEAM UP). TEAM UP—Transforming
and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care in Urban Pediatrics—is an 8-year, $22M initiative to build the
capacity of pediatric primary care to deliver high-quality, evidence-based, integrated behavioral health care
to children and families. The TEAM UP Model focuses on the promotion, prevention, early identification of
emerging behavioral health issues, and swift access to behavioral health care delivered by a multidisciplinary team of community health workers (CHWs), behavioral health clinicians (BHCs), and primary
care providers (PCPs).
Our focus is Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which serve historically marginalized communities.
- 74% Racial and/or ethnic minority patients
- 37% Best served in a language other than English
- 67% At or below 100% federal poverty level