Building Better Systems for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Highlights from a meeting convened by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP)

This paper summarizes the results of a meeting convened as a means of engaging state, federal, provider, and consumer experts from the child mental health and maternal child health fields in a conversation about how to develop stronger collaborative approaches to improve systems for child and adolescent mental health. The meeting was based on the premise that meeting child and adolescent mental health needs requires a continuum of services. This continuum includes promotion of social and emotional health and development, as well as prevention, early intervention, and care for mental health conditions affecting children and adolescents. While the discussion broadly considered the continuum of services for child and adolescent mental health, it had a strong focus on the promotion and prevention end of the continuum. The paper examines the four primary discussion themes, discusses elements of a pathway toward better systems, and looks at next steps to move ahead.  

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