More than 14 million children and adolescents in the United States, or 1 in 5, have a diagnosable mental health disorder that requires intervention or monitoring and interferes with daily functioning.¹ While many children with mental health disorders are not being diagnosed, primary care clinicians have been identifying children with emotional and behavioral disorders at an increasing rate. The need for primary care clinicians to manage children with mental health concerns only will continue to increase in the future. Primary care clinicians are, and will continue to be, an important first resource for parents who are worried about their child's behavioral problems.

Partnering to Address Mental Health Concerns in Early Education and Child Care - March 23, 2009
The early education and child care setting offers great potential to increase early access to mental health services. This Webinar describes the different types of health professionals (eg, child care health consultants, early childhood mental health consultants, and primary care clinicians) involved in identifying a child with mental health or developmental concerns and how they can work together for the benefit of the child. 

Improving Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Reducing Administrative and Financial Barriers to Access and Collaboration
There are numerous barriers to providing collaborative mental health care in the primary care setting. As such, the AAP and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have jointly written a special article in the April issue of Pediatrics, which outlines the barriers to providing collaborative mental health care. Suggestions for improving these barriers are also identified. For those who wish to learn more, the authors have also written a Background paper, which delves further into the issues and the need for collaboration.This paper was supported by the Improving Mental Heath in Primary Care Through Access, Collaboration, and Training (IMPACT) grant (G95MC05434) that was awarded to the AAP in 2005 from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. For more information, please call 847/434-7119 or email mentalhealth@aap.org.