The Chapter Action Kit was developed to support AAP Chapters in addressing and improving children's mental health in primary care. Review the information below for strategies on partnering with child-serving agencies to improve mental health services.
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Promote initiatives and activities to strengthen the provision of mental health services among primary care and other child-serving settings in communities. The following collaborative projects could be a starting point:
- Community mental health/substance abuse resource guide
- Facilitate the building of relationships between community pediatrician’s and community mental health professionals
- Quality standards that require exchange of information between state-funded or state-contracted mental health professionals and primary care clinicians
- Information on case management resources for children who are served in the public mental health system
- Chronic illness care guidelines for coordinating the care of children with serious emotional disturbance in the medical home
- Involvement of pediatricians in the development of comprehensive “system of care” models
- Identification of strategies to address inappropriate emergency room use for non-emergent mental health problems
- Asset mapping key initiatives in your community, reaching out and ensuring that the information is available to the families you serve
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Collaborate with local school systems (eg, school districts, schools, Head Start) to encourage development of community-based protocols for exchange of information between pediatricians and school staff (eg, psychologists, nurses, counselors and social workers) who are involved in the mutual care of children with mental health needs.
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Collaborate with the state education agency and other state agencies (eg, mental health or public health agencies) to encourage development of state guidelines on strengthening the integration of school and community-based mental health services through a range of service delivery systems (eg, primary care or mental health systems). Particular promotion is needed for community-based services for early childhood.
Resources/Tools:
National Center for School Mental Health
National Center for Healthy Safe Children -
Partner with the state education agency and other key state agencies to advocate for efforts to promote the healthy social and emotional development of children in schools. With our knowledge of brain development and the effects of environment/experience on brain development (not only in early childhood, but also in adolescence), promotion of healthy social-emotional development in early learning settings and schools is crucial for learning and language skills as well. Social and emotional learning can help children learn important skills so that they are better able to resolve interpersonal problems and prevent antisocial behavior, as well as to achieve positive academic outcomes. In turn, these efforts can help reduce the caseload burden on health and mental health professionals and reduce the severity of mental health problems in children.
Resources/Tools:
A Guide to Federal Education Programs That Can Fund K-12 Universal Prevention and Social and Emotional Learning Activities
How Schools Work & How to Work With Schools: A Primer for Those Who Want to Serve Children and Youth in Schools -
Collaborate with state agencies to promote “no wrong door” policies (eg, a child entering any child-serving system receives a voluntary mental health screening) and/or intake procedures assuring a mental health history. An important component of this policy is to promote linkage with and communication back to the medical home.
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Many states have Children’s Cabinets or similar government agencies that coordinate all children’s services and to serve as policy advisors on children’s issues. These entities can be useful partners to facilitate interagency coordination to improve mental health services for children.
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Partner with child-serving agencies, child advocates, family groups and other key organizations to advocate that the state develop a comprehensive children’s mental health system of prevention, early intervention and treatment. Strategies may include pursuing public policy initiatives; developing statewide plans, frameworks and blueprints; or improving finance and integration of service-delivery systems. Many of these state plans and frameworks can provide important information and resources on strategies for reforming the children’s mental health system.
Resources/Tools:
List of Potential Partners
Example:Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnerships Strategic Plan and Priorities
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Initiate a dialogue with representatives from key state agencies that are involved in children’s mental health. Several federal agencies have identified children’s mental health as a key priority. As such, state mental health and public health agencies and others already may have begun to engage and involve stakeholders in efforts to improve the children’s mental health system.
- Identify agency goals that align with chapter goals for shared/complementary activities and resources.
- Recommend improved coordination of financing among the key state agencies and child-serving programs (eg, mental health, substance abuse prevention, public health, Medicaid/CHIP, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, Early Intervention [EI], Head Start) with responsibilities for children’s mental health.
- Educate stakeholders about early brain and child development, the effects on mental and physical health of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences, evidence-based parenting programs, and evidence-based programs to build resilience in children and youth.
- Recommend increasing investments in prevention and early intervention programs. These investments may come from existing programmatic funding sources, such as the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, which have flexibility in how funds are used, and from the state public mental health system. They may also come from EI, Head Start, and child care programs targeting young children and from the education system targeting school-aged children. In addition to state and local government agencies, a variety of funders have invested in models of care that address children’s mental health needs; these include hospitals, local and state public health departments and private foundations.
Please note: Chapter outreach to any federal agency should be coordinated through the AAP DC office.
Resources/Tools:
Facilitating Community: Key Strategies for Building Communities of Practice to Accomplish State Goals
AAP Early Brain and Child Development website
Building Bridges Among Health & Early Childhood Systems Project -
Conduct a state-level assessment to identify key statewide initiatives, programs and/or other activities focused on children’s mental health.
Last Updated
06/11/2021
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics