Meeting the Demand for Pediatric Mental Health Care

Difficulty Obtaining Behavioral Health Services for Children: A National Survey of Multiphysician Practices

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The difficulty levels also varied in an expected way; given the scarcity of child behavioral health professionals, it makes sense that delivering evidencebased treatments and family-based therapy might be viewed as more difficult to obtain than medication advice. [14][15][16] Despite advances in our understanding of the biologic basis of behavioral health conditions, improved treatments, and federal legislation designed to expand access to behavioral health care (eg, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; the Patient Proection and Affordable Care Act of 2010), significant barriers to behavioral health treatment remain. For example, behavioral health experts are still scarce, and treatments are often unaffordable.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] When used appropriately, psychotropic drugs, evidence-based psychotherapy, and familybased treatments are cornerstones of effective treatment [10][11][12][13] but are challenging to deliver broadly given the ongoing national shortage of child behavioral health professionals. [14][15][16] Primary care practices are at the frontline of delivering pediatric behavioral health services because they provide a familiar, nonstigmatizing context in which behavioral health issues can gain attention. 1,17,18 Several randomized trials and systematic reviews found that primary care practices can deliver high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health care for children if practices establish collaborative relationships with behavioral health professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists) or formally integrate such experts into their practices.…”

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: New Concepts and New Strategies for the Future

“…It should be noted that even if all the positions were filled and there were no attrition in the current workforce, there would only be about 8300 child and adolescent psychiatrists in the USA (estimated from 2017) to meet the clinical needs of about 7.7 million youth with a treatable mental health disorder [2,3]. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that the country needs 47 child psychiatrists per 100,000 youth ages 0-19, whereas the current number is only 9.75 [4,5]. Based on these estimates, it would seem that the country would need approximately 38,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists.…”

Increasing Interest in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry During Medical School: Launching a Summer Immersion Experience for Medical Students

“…The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry confirms the concerning shortage of CAPs in states across the nation [ 2 ]. There are approximately 9787 actively practicing CAPs in the USA with an estimated 9.75 CAPs per 100,000 youth with a need for at least 47 per 100,000 youth [ 3 – 6 ]. Despite a recent reassuring workforce projection, more action is needed and there is concern for underestimation of these projections [ 5 – 7 ].…”