Welcome to IDEAS!

An NIMH-Funded ALACRITY Center

Welcome to IDEAS, an NIMH-funded ALACRITY Center dedicated to improving the quality of state-delivered mental health care services for youth and their families, nationwide.  

Our Center focus:  developing tools and strategies to help states across the nation to better integrate cutting-edge scientific research evidence into their children's mental health policymaking process (Research Project 1). And designing and testing interventions to accelerate the quality of care for youth with the most serious mental health disorders, including those who visit emergency departments seeking mental health treatment (Research Project 2) for depression, and adolescents and young adults with first episode psychosis (Research Project 3).

We believe this two-pronged approach, focused on improving the utilization of research evidence into state children's mental health policymaking, and testing innovative strategies to care for states' most high-need and high-cost youth populations, will accelerate improvements in outcomes for youth and their families, and help states provide more effective, efficient care.

​​​Our collaborative team of researchers from six leading academic institutions and our Center stakeholders, including state and national policymakers, health and behavioral health care providers, and parents and youth with mental health disorders, drives the work that we do each day to improve care for youth with the most serious mental health needs.

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Systems Science Training Summer 2020 

Training Opportunity in Systems Science at Washington University in St. Louis' Brown School

The 2nd annual Systems Science for Social Impact training is being held July 27-31, 2020. The four tracks include: Agent-Based Modeling, Group Model Building, Social Network Analysis, and System Dynamics. Visit the Brown School website for more information.

IDEAS News & Notes

New Special Issue APMH 'Festschrift'

Dr. Hoagwood co-authored the Introduction of a new special issue "Festschrift" dedicated to the lifelong work of Len Bickman  recently published in Administration and Policy in Mental Health, as well as the article on innovative practices in outpatient mental health clinics (Fenwick et al., 2020). The complete contents of the special issue can be found here. 

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A Marshall Plan for Kids after COVID-19

Psychiatric Services recently published a column by IDEAS Co-Director Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD, and Kelly Kelleher, MD, Nationwide Children's Hospital, outlining a Marshall Plan for children after COVID-19.

​The plan is centered around a 'children's first' ethics and 'building back better' that will require a fundamental societal shift in American priorities, services and systems that serve children and families. 

​Read the PS pre-print here. 

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Research Project 1

Research Project 2

Research Project 3

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Our Research-Practice-Policy Partnership ​with ​NY State Office of Mental Health

​ “It serves us (NYS OMH) because we understand the system better, and make better policy decisions, and it helps them because they get to showcase their skills and publish ... so it is mutually beneficial process. I think what has happened with all of the systems change over the last year or two is that the relationship has gone from mutually beneficial, to symbiotic, and absolutely, positively critical for doing the work that we do.

- Donna Bradbury
Former Associate Commissioner
Division of Integrated Community Services for Children and Families
New York State Office of Mental Health

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The IDEAS Center and those listed below, is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) initiative, called the
Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness (ALACRITY)

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Join our email list to keep updated on the tools and strategies we are developing to help states improve the quality of mental health care services delivered to children and families.

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