Federal, State, and Foundation Initiatives Around Evidence-Based Practices for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

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Federal activities

Several federal government agencies have organized initiatives to facilitate the integration of EBPs for children's mental health into real-world service delivery settings. Representative agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Education, and US Department of Justice have launched independent programs and collaborative efforts to improve the quality of mental health services for children and adolescents.

Foundation efforts

Many of the private foundations have initiatives that focus on the improvement of mental health for children and adolescents. Each foundation has taken its own strategy, whether through funding research, document creation, or service demonstration projects, and significant progress has been made. We provide a brief summary of some of the work in which foundations are engaged currently.

State initiatives

Although a formal survey of evidence-based initiatives has not been conducted and soon would be out of date, we present a brief summary of some state initiatives currently underway. These initiatives, all unique in their own ways, are designed to create state-level strategies for disseminating a single or several EBPs or engage in comprehensive training, supervisory, or regulatory activities to implement a range of EBPs across the broad range of childhood disorders.

Next steps

Although much progress has been made toward building an evidence base around the effective dissemination and implementation of EBPs for children who experience emotional disorders, we have tremendous opportunities to move the field further. We are excited to see federal, state, and foundation initiatives not only to establish the efficacy of interventions but also to help build our knowledge about the actual processes involved in bringing these interventions into appropriate real world use.

Summary

The breadth and number of federal, foundation, and state initiatives in this area is exciting. Given the President's New Freedom Commission report description of the US mental health system as “fragmented and in disarray” [3], it is vitally important that attempts be made to improve on the care provided to children with mental disorders and behavioral and emotional problems. The federal, foundation, and state initiatives described in this article are important steps in the right direction and

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the following individuals for their assistance in the writing of the manuscript: Gary Blau, PhD, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Renee Bradley, PhD, Office of Special Education Programs, Department of Education; Sybil Goldman, PhD, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Malcolm Gordon, PhD, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental

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The summary of initiatives and discussions represented in this article are from the perspectives of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Mental Health, Columbia University, or the New York State Office of Mental Health.

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