Supporting Family Recovery: How Local Behavioral Health Boards Coordinate Child Welfare and Behavioral Health Systems...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Behavioral Health Systems

Background:

• Effective collaboration between public social services and private substance use treatment organizations is crucial for addressing parental substance use disorder.
• Regional public behavioral health boards play a key role in facilitating this cross-sector integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate strategies used by regional public behavioral health boards to align social service agencies with substance use treatment providers.
• To identify regional variations in these alignment strategies.
• To explore factors influencing community-board relationships.

Main Methods:

• A multiple case study design was employed, examining 17 Ohio county-based systems implementing the Ohio START program.
• Template analysis was used on data from 48 small group interviews with 104 staff from child welfare, behavioral health, and community boards.

Main Results:

• Boards utilized direct and indirect strategies, including funding, information/relationship brokering, and planning, to support system alignment.
• Lack of perceived need or connection hindered board involvement in some communities.
• Rural and Appalachian regions demonstrated particularly close integration between boards and communities.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral health boards can enhance cross-system integration by lowering collaboration barriers and strengthening community capacity.
• Centralized organizational structures may mitigate implementation challenges and boost effectiveness in resource-constrained settings.