O3281: Evaluation of Connecting for Kids (C4K): Bridging the Gap Between Pediatric Primary Care, Schools, Behavioral Health & Families to Improve Child Health Outcomes

Background: Behavioral health (BH) concerns in children and youth are a serious public health issue exacerbated significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary care pediatricians and schools both play a critical role in behavioral health prevention, assessment, treatment and referral but often do so in isolation. Breaking down silos that exist between healthcare and education is essential for increasing access to BH services and improving physical and behavioral health outcomes. To address this need, funding provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics Healthy People 2030 grants program helped launch an innovative model called Connecting for Kids (C4K). C4K aims to improve critical cross-sector collaboration between primary care, schools, BH, and families to address youth BH needs more effectively and efficiently.

Methods: The C4K model involves guided, 1.5-hour virtual dialogues between schools, primary care, caregivers, and BH partners to a) build relationships, b) examine strengths/barriers to collaboration, and c) identify and commit to actionable next steps for enhancing partnership to support youth BH. Between 2021-2024, C4K Collaborative Dialogues were delivered to 16 primary care practices, 26 school teams, 6 school district-based teams (representing an additional 34 schools), and local BH agencies in the NYS Finger Lakes region. Participants completed pre- and post-evaluation surveys to measure changes in professionals’ attitudes, knowledge, and skills related to cross-sector collaboration. A comparative analysis was performed on participants' responses on pre- and post-surveys. Follow-up surveys were administered during year 1 to assess impact 6-12 months following dialogues.

Results: Between 2021-2024, 262 pediatricians, school professionals, BH providers, and parents/caregivers engaged in C4K. Comparative analyses yielded significant increases in participants’ attitudes (p < .001), knowledge (p < .01), and skill (p < .01) related to cross-sector partnerships following engagement in C4K (see Table 1). Examples of attitudes that significantly increased included “common goals/priorities,” “agreement about shared goals/purpose,” and “mutual understanding, trust, and respect between systems.” Improvements in knowledge were related to helping families access BH services and informing families about supports within the other system. Examples of significant increases in self-reported skills included the ability to effectively communicate with the other system. Follow-up surveys administered to cohort 1 (2021-22) indicated that 49% reported making referrals more often to the other system after C4K (N = 41). 51.2% also reported that their ability to collaborate with the other system increased as a result of C4K. C4K led to system-level changes including identification of key contacts, utilization of standardized communication forms, improvements to shared parent/caregiver consent forms, and streamlining CSE referral processes.

Conclusion: Program evaluation demonstrated enhanced knowledge, skills, attitudes, and system-level changes related to cross-sector collaboration within urban, suburban, and rural communities. C4K is an effective and innovative format for building collaboration and enhancing cross-sector communication and coordination.