PIVOTING WITH THE PANDEMIC: CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES OF CHILD PSYCHIATRY ACCESS PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE

Abstract

A nationwide shortage of behavioral healthcare services has prompted primary care providers (PCPs) to fill the gap in providing behavioral health care. Pediatric behavioral health needs have further increased during the pandemic. However, PCPs often lack specialized training and resources to meet the behavioral health needs of their patients. Child Psychiatry Access Programs (CPAPs) augment mental healthcare resources through collaborative care models based on peer-to-peer consultation, ongoing psychiatry education for PCPs, and other services. To date, CPAPs have been developed in 40 states, scaffolded by the National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs including 21 programs with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Informed by community-engaged collaborations, CPAPs have leveraged their child behavioral health expertise in creative ways such as integration of peer specialists for families, telemedicine partnerships with Tribal Health Centers and schools, expanded child psychiatry fellowship education programs, and novel research networks. Diverse programs from 4 different states—Connecticut, Michigan, Mississippi, and Texas—will describe innovative strategies to implement and expand their programs, and lessons learned during the global pandemic. Furthermore, the discussant will provide an overview of CPAP functioning and innovation during the pandemic, including a focus on the Massachusetts program. CPAPs have leveraged mental health expertise in various states, allowing more children from rural and other underserved communities to access mental health care in their relatively low-cost primary care setting, schools, or local communities. As these collaborative care programs are all virtual, implementation has continued forward even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Child and adolescent psychiatrists can partner with CPAPs in their state and with primary care providers to improve the care for children. Nationwide, CPAP programs are transforming mental health care through this model of consultation, resource/referral coordination, ongoing medical education, research, and training opportunities.