As noted in the last newsletter, the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (SCFPP) is a sponsor of an Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Promoting Children's Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Healthopens in new window. I am representing Divs. 37 and 54 (as joint sponsors) on this forum. All workshops of the forum are webcast and SCFPP members are encouraged to join.
The Forum held its first public workshop on April 1-2, Strategies for Scaling Tested and Effective Family-Focused Preventive Interventions to Promote Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health .opens in new window This workshop included presentations on and discussion of how to provide effective family-focused interventions at sufficient scale to reduce the incidence and prevalence of negative cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes among youth. Specific topics included: successes and challenges in scaling family-focused interventions; financing and infrastructure (including how provisions of the Affordable Care Act may influence implementation of preventive interventions) and innovative models. A written summary of this workshop is expected to be available later this summer and will be shared with members.
A second public workshop was held on June 16-17, Harvesting the Scientific Investment in Prevention Science to Promote Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health: A Workshopopens in new window . This workshop included presentations on and discussion of facilitators and barriers to broad implementation of preventive interventions, the roles of scientific norms, implementation strategies, and practices in care quality and health outcomes for youth, and new methodological directions in prevention science to promote children's health. This workshop was a working meeting during which forum members worked in small groups to discuss these issues in the sector areas of (1) health care (including mental health), (2) schools and (3) child welfare and juvenile/family justice. A written summary of this workshop is expected in the fall.
The forum has spawned a few “learning collaboratives,” which are subgroups of forum members—and others in the field—working together to make progress towards the overarching goals of the forum. Collaboratives may also focus on making progress towards recommendations from IOM reports that relate to the forum's goals. I will be chairing a collaborative to explore the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act on promoting children's cognitive, affective and behavioral health in primary care. This collaborative has discussed its initial priorities, and we will begin fact-finding with several federal agencies about what provisions in the law may presently allow that is related to forum objectives. A second collaborative will focus on identifying metrics/indicators of investment in youth CAB health along a continuum (including prevention, diagnosis and secondary prevention/treatment), which can be used to inform the forum's workshops and other activities.
Updates on forum activities will be provided in each newsletter. However, if at any time members have suggestions, please feel free to contact me.