The Community Technical Assistance Center 

The Community Technical Assistance Center is a training, consultation, and educational resource center available to all mental and behavioral health providers, clinics, agencies and programs in New York State. 

Funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), CTAC's goal is simple: to provide a set of technical assistance and training activities and tools for use in improving clinical care and business practices. With NYS' recent transition to managed care (and the addition of this focus on managed care to the CTAC logo, MCTAC),  CTAC helps New York State clinics address the challenges associated with the changes in clinic regulations, financing, and overall healthcare reforms, and importantly training to help clinics develop strong business and financial models to ensure sustainability.

IDEAS researchers have worked collaboratively with CTAC to assess how to most effectively and efficiently to rollout evidence-based trainings through CTAC offerings (read about our Adoption of Innovations study), and continue to collaborate with CTAC faculty and staff in their efforts to provide NYS clinics, programs, and agencies with trainings to help them provide more effective care using efficient business practices. CTAC faculty and staff and IDEAS researchers meet with NYS OMH administrators on a quarterly basis to review CTAC trainings, planned offerings, and research findings that impact CTAC-provided trainings and technical assistance.

During these meetings with OMH, we don’t wait to present results before all the data are collected, analyzed, and published... This is a difference with typical academic researchers. We’re not going to wait until everything is spit-polished, you know—ready to go out the door in press. You can’t do that in this kind of policy environment. The foundation for this partnership is an iterative process... 
atypical of academic research.

​Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD
IDEAS Center Co-Director

Predictors of state Adoption of innovations and eBp's

how states can use agency leader models to facilitate ​the adoption of innovations and EBP's

About IDEAS Research-Practice-Policy Partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health

"Multiple roles and experiences enable Drs. Hoagwood and McKay to serve as culture brokers, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to address
child mental issues of common interest.

​They are also able to incorporate both research and practice/policymaking perspectives when engaged in conducting research on child mental issues or translating the results of that
research into policy or practice,"

Source: Palinkas L., Short C., Wong M.  Research-Practice-Policy Partnerships for Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in Child Welfare and Child Mental Health.  The WT Grant Foundation:  New York, NY. 

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