Addressing Mental Health Services Disparities for Ethnically Diverse Children

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this study addresses a significant shortcoming in the delivery of behavioral health services to children, namely, the large socioeconomic and ethnic disparities between children who utilize services and those children who do not utilize services. Significantly fewer socioeconomically and ethnically diverse children utilize behavioral health services compared to non-minority children of higher socioeconomic status. The purpose of the overall study is to develop and pilot-test a school-based, family-centered system for the delivery of children’s mental health services in under-resourced schools. The primary contractor for this work is the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. AIR serves as a subcontractor/consultant on statistical aspects of this work.