Our Story
In 2011, a core group of national leaders dedicated to pediatrics and child psychiatry established the National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs as an informal association to support existing and emerging child psychiatry consultation programs and further national progress toward effective integration of the management of mental health and substance use disorders with primary care.
Why a National Network?
Throughout the country, there is a shortage of mental health providers, especially child psychiatrists. Collaborative programs, through which child psychiatrists support pediatricians and other primary care providers via phone consultations or other types of “curbside consultations,” are a promising approach to leverage our existing supply of child psychiatrists to provide mental health services to children and youth.
The National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs (NNCPAP) will promote synergy, avoid duplication of efforts, and promote use of best practices within regional and state consultation programs. Through joint work and cross-program collaboration, we will have enhanced ability to identify the benefits of these programs and address challenges and problems quickly.
Using the resources established by the network, we expect that we will foster the development of consultation programs in areas that would otherwise have difficulty finding the resources to start or sustain them.
The Network supports the emerging “medical home” model, allowing most care to be provided in the relatively low-cost primary care setting. The network promotes the reach of these programs to primary care practices throughout the country and, thereby, all youth.
Network Aims
Facilitate linkages among existing and emerging programs
Create and maintain a set of tools including:
A database/clearinghouse of consultation programs so that states/regions considering them can have greater information about the approaches utilized by other programs
A toolkit for states/regions in the process of developing child mental health collaboration/consultation programs
A recommended set of assessment measurements and data collection approaches that will assist new and existing programs in collecting data, demonstrating the quality and benefits of the services that they are providing and promoting
Consult with existing programs and those in their planning stages
Advocacy
Improving the access/consultation model through mutual evaluation and research
Network History
In 2004, the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (“MBHP”) adapted TCPS at the University of Massachusetts Medical School into the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (“MCPAP”). MCPAP (see www.mcpap.com) facilitates the statewide implementation of the program and addresses the shortage of child mental health professional across Massachusetts. MBHP developed MCPAP to support efficient diagnosis and treatment of mild to moderate mental health issues within primary care with the support of statewide telephonic child psychiatry consultation service, face-to-face consultations, and care coordination. With legislative approval, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (“DMH”) funded MBHP to contract for a statewide establishment of six regional teams in 2004-2005. MCPAP consequently became the first statewide child psychiatry access consultative program in the United States. Child psychiatrist and MCPAP medical director, Barry Sarvet, M.D. et. al, published the participation and utilization results for the first few years of MCPAP operation in the journal Pediatrics (2010;126(6):1191–200). John Straus, M.D., MCPAP founding director, and Dr. Sarvet published a follow up paper in Health Affairs (December 2014 33:2153-2161). The MCPAP model has been expanded in 13 states to address perinatal mental health and substance use (see MCPAP for Moms, www.mcpapformoms.com and www.umassmed.edu/lifeline4moms/). Additionally, programs to address adult addiction and chronic pain are now operating in 3 states (see www.mcstap.com).
Because of MCPAP’s success, variations of the MCPAP model have been replicated in 38 states, DC, and British Columbia. MCPAP staff has often been asked to provide technical assistance to support the development of the model in other states. In 2011, a core group of national leaders dedicated to pediatrics and child psychiatry established the National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs as an informal association to support existing and emerging child psychiatry consultation programs and further national progress toward effective integration of mental health with primary care. This association officially incorporated on October 20, 2014 as the National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs, Inc. (“NNCPAP” or the “Organization”), a Massachusetts nonprofit organization, in accordance with Chapter 180 of the Massachusetts General Laws. In carrying out its charitable mission, NNCPAP serves as a clearinghouse of resources for child psychiatry consultation programs across the country; facilitating relationships and effective communication among mental health and psychiatry access programs designed to address the mental health needs of children and adolescents within the primary care setting. Currently, NNCPAP fulfills its charitable mission through the generous and voluntary support of state and federal mental health and psychiatry access programs whose functions align with the Organization’s charitable mission to address child and adolescent mental health needs as well as grants. NNCPAP incorporated to form an official membership organization and to provide organized technical support to new programs and administrative support to keep its network organized and updated on the activities of all of its members.