System of Care Evaluation
Principal Investigator(s): Gregory Aarons, Ph.D. UC San Diego, Todd Gilmer, Ph.D. UC San Diego
Co-Investigator(s): Emily Trask, Ph.D. UC San Diego and Kate McDonald, DrPH, UC San Diego
The SOCE contract focuses on data management and program evaluation for publicly-funded mental health services provided by Children, Youth & Families Behavioral Health Services (CYFBHS). SOCE works in tandem with the Health Services Research Center (HSRC), which is responsible for data management and evaluation of the Adult/Older Adult Behavioral Health Services (AOABHS) system. As part of this contract, SOCE and HSRC collaborated to develop and maintain a web-based outcomes data collection system: CYF Mental Health Outcomes Management System (CYF mHOMS). We provide ongoing training, technical support, data management, and evaluation services for CYF mHOMS. CYF mHOMS allows each contractor to generate outcomes reports for their own reporting needs, and also allows SOCE to report at the system, unit and subunit level. Outcomes measures are also linked to administrative data from Cerner, the County’s billing system, for additional reporting on systemwide service use, demographics, outcomes, and compliance. These data are also linked to information on clients involved in other public systems of care (Probation, Child Welfare, Substance Use Disorder, and Special Education) in order to examine the overlap and collaboration between these sectors.
In addition to overseeing outcomes, SOCE also supports BHS quality assurance efforts, and provides consultation to BHS leadership on program and client outcome measures and standards. Other research consultation services include development and ongoing support for the Community Experience Partnership (CEP), State-mandated Performance Improvement Projects (PIPs), Full Service Partnership (FSP) support and evaluation, disparities reporting, TAY reporting, client satisfaction focus groups, distribution and processing of the biennial Youth Services Survey (YSS), and myriad regular and ad hoc reporting requests.
Funding Information: County of San Diego Behavioral Health Services, Contract
Study time period: established 1996
Applying Team Charters to Improve Distance Training Outcomes for Autism Interventions in Public Mental Health Services and Schools
Principal Investigator(s): Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D. UC San Diego, Aubyn Stahmer, Ph.D. UC Davis
The purpose of this R34 is to develop and test a team charter-enhanced implementation strategy for distance training to increase the reach and effectiveness of two evidence-based intervention practices (EBPs) for autism across two public service systems. Our research groups have adapted, tested, and implemented autism EBPs across two service systems: AIM HI (“An Individualized Mental Health Intervention for Autism”) in publicly funded mental health services and CPRT (“Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching”) in public school classrooms. The implementation strategy appears to be less effective when EBP training is provided from a distance, resulting in fewer providers completing training. Thus, geographic distance is a barrier for children and families needing care, and for high-quality provider training. Although there are many advantages to distance training, and this will be increasingly required with the sustained impact of COVID-19, preliminary data from our current trials reveal several challenges with providing high-quality EBP training and ongoing consultation/coaching remotely. Distance training requires effective and efficient coordination between individuals with different roles and backgrounds. Thus, we propose to co-create and pilot test a team charter-enhanced implementation strategy using “team charters” to increase the reach of Autism EBPs through distance training.
Funding Information: NIMH, P50, MH126231
Study time period: 2022 - 2027
Center for Team Effectiveness to Accelerate EBP Implementation in Children’s Mental Health Services (TEAMS)
Principal Investigator(s): Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D. UC San Diego, Gregory Aaarons, Ph.D. UC San Diego
Directed by Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D. and Gregory Aarons, Ph.D., the new ImplementatioN Science and Team Effectiveness in Practice (IN STEP) Children’s Mental Health Research Center at UC San Diego will develop and test team-based implementation strategies to improve services for children with mental health and developmental needs across systems including schools, specialty mental health, pediatric health care, and child welfare.
Funding Information: NIMH, P50, MH126231
Study time period: 2022 - 2027
Enhancing team effectiveness for a collaborative school-based intervention for ADHD
Principal Investigator(s): Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D. UC San Diego, Linda Pfiffner, Ph.D. UC San Francisco, Miguel Villodas Ph.D., San Diego State University
The IN STEP R01 research project aims to integrate team-based implementation strategies to enhance implementation of the Collaborative Life Skills Program (CLS), an established school-based intervention for children with ADHD in grades 2-5. We will tailor three empirically-supported team development interventions, Team Charters, Team Communication Training (Student Handoff Protocols), and Team Performance Monitoring, and integrate them with the CLS protocol to create a team-enhanced CLS implementation protocol (CLS-T). We will conduct a Hybrid Type III cluster randomized trial in 24 schools in two large urban school districts, to evaluate whether CLS-T implementation results in improved implementation outcomes and child outcomes in comparison to standard CLS implementation.
Funding Information: NIMH, R01, MH126231-02
Study time period: 2022 - 2027
Expanding Care Coordination and Developing Organizational Implementation Supports to Improve Disparity Reduction Efforts
Principal Investigator(s): Kelsey Dickson, Ph.D. San Diego State University
Co- Prinicpal Investigator(s): Elva Arredondo, Ph.D. San Diego State University
Apply implementation science methods to expand a care coordinator model to include an evidence-based mental health intervention and corresponding implementation strategies to address care disparities for underserved minority individuals served by a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Funding Information: NIMHD, U54 Awarded to SDSU, U54 MD012397
Study time period: 2021 - 2023
Personalizing Parent Training Interventions for Culturally Diverse Families
Principal Investigator(s): Kristen McCabe, Ph.D. University of San Diego, May Yeh, Ph.D., San Diego State University
Co-Investigator(s): Argero Zerr, Ph.D. California State University Channel Islands
Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) interventions have been shown to be effective treatments for young children with behavior problems. However, not all families benefit, and ethnic minority families in particular are less likely to enroll, engage, and improve in BPT, in part because some aspects of these treatments may not fit with culturally influenced beliefs and attitudes about child mental health and its treatment. One way of improving engagement and outcomes in BPT for culturally diverse families may be to personalize the delivery of treatments by enhancing or modifying aspects of their delivery to increase the cultural fit of the treatment to the family when research suggests this might be helpful. In this project, we developed a personalization approach (PersIn) that utilizes cultural assessment results to tailor a BPT called Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to individual families in order maximize cultural responsiveness to a specific family while still being deliverable to a culturally diverse population. We then pilot tested this intervention, called MY PCIT, with 32 families from a range of racial/ethnic groups (African American, Asian American, Latinx, and Non-Hispanic White) that were seeking treatment for their child’s clinically significant behavior problems.
Funding Information: NIMH, R34, R34MH109561
Study time period: 2016 - 2021
Policy Implementation Research on Earmarked Taxes for Mental Health Services
Principal Investigator(s): Jonathan Purtle, DrPH New York University, Nicole Stadnick, Ph.D., MPH UC San Diego
The goal of this study is to generate knowledge about how to enhance the ability of earmarked taxes for mental health to increase the reach of evidence-based practices that improve population mental health.
Funding Information: NIMH, R21, MH125261
Study time period: 2020 - 2023
Adapting and Implementing an Integrated Care Model for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Psychiatric Comorbidity
Principal Investigator(s): Nicole Stadnick, Ph.D., MPH UC San Diego
The study used implementation science theory and methods and a research-community partnership approach to: 1) identify targets to improve mental health screening and linkage to mental health services in primary care for children with autism, 2) adapt integrated care procedures into “Access To Tailored Autism INtegrated Care,” ATTAIN, to facilitate identification of mental health problems and linkage to evidence-based care for youth with autism, and 3) conduct an open trial feasibility pilot test of ATTAIN in pediatric primary care.
Funding Information: NIMH, K23
Study time period: 2017 - 2022
Developing and Testing a Team Communication Training Implementation Strategy for Depression Screening in a Pediatric Health Care System
Principal Investigator(s): Nicole Stadnick, Ph.D., MPH UC San Diego
Co-Investigator(s): Gregory Aarons, Ph.D. UC San Diego, Jonathan Helm, Ph.D. San Diego State University
The objective is to refine and test a team communication training implementation strategy to improve implementation of an existing pediatric depression screening protocol in a large pediatric healthcare system. The implementation strategy will target team mechanisms at the organizational-level (intra-organizational alignment and implementation climate) and provider-level (communication, coordination, psychological safety, and shared cognition).
Funding Information: NIMH, P50, MH126231
Study time period: 2022 - 2027
Refining and Implementing Technology-Enhanced Family Navigation to Promote Early Access and Engagement with Mental Health Services for Youth with Autism
Principal Investigator(s): Nicole Stadnick, Ph.D., MPH UC San Diego
Other Collaborator(s): Kaiser Permanente
This proposal aims to test the effectiveness and implementation of technology-enhanced family navigation to promote early access to, and engagement in evidence-based mental health care for children with autism plus mental health comorbidity.
Funding Information: NIMH, R34, MH120190
Study time period: 2020 - 2024
Wraparound Fidelity Assessment
Principal Investigator(s): David Sommerfeld, Ph.D. UC San Diego
The Wraparound Fidelity Assessment (WFA) initiative seeks to develop and implement a fidelity assessment plan for County of San Diego Behavioral Health Services (BHS) funded Wraparound programs to determine the extent to which they are operating as high quality and high-fidelity Wraparound programs. The primary assessment tool used for the WFA will be the Wraparound Fidelity Index-Short Version (WFI-EZ), a structured survey instrument that is administered to each youth, caregiver, Wraparound Service Care Coordinator, and an affiliated "natural support" who is part of the Wraparound care team for the youth and family. Deviations from high fidelity Wraparound standards will be identified and the UCSD team leading the WFA will work with BHS and the relevant Wraparound program(s) to develop quality improvement and data monitoring plans. The WFI-EZ will be administered 1-2 times per year over multiple years to detect changes over time related to the program improvement activities.
Funding Information: County of San Diego Behavioral Health Services, Evaluation contract
Study time period: 2022 - 2024