Interdisciplinary Children's Behavioral Health Workforce Development for Social Work and Nursing

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Workforce Development
• Child Behavioral Health

Background:

• Global and national child health inequities persist, particularly in New York State.
• Behavioral health care, encompassing mental health, substance abuse, and stress-related conditions, faces significant workforce shortages.
• Underserved communities experience disproportionately higher burdens of child health inequities.

Approach:

• An interdisciplinary training program was developed for Master of Social Work and nurse practitioner students.
• The program curriculum is designed to equip trainees with skills to address child behavioral health inequities.
• Focus on creating a specialized workforce for underserved areas in New York State.

Key Points:

• The training program targets critical workforce shortages in behavioral health care.
• It aims to improve the delivery of prevention, treatment, and care for children's behavioral health needs.
• Process evaluation findings indicate initial program success.

Conclusions:

• The interdisciplinary training model shows promise in addressing child behavioral health inequities.
• Further data collection is necessary to fully assess program impact and long-term outcomes.
• Challenges in data acquisition and implementation require ongoing attention.