Assisted Identification and Navigation of Early Mental Health Symptoms in Children

The randomized, two-arm pragmatic trial will test the effectiveness of offering 6-months of telephonic support from a mental health (MH) navigator to promote early access, engagement, coordination, and personalization of mental health treatment and services for children naïve to such treatments and services, and who are identified as being at risk for behavioral health concerns. The model includes: (a) automated identification of early symptoms for children meeting criteria for behavioral health problems using a previously developed Natural Language Processing (NLP) program and predictive algorithm; (b) standardized instruments for assessment and diagnosis of mental health disorders (c) 30 minute assessment appointments with a study psychologist (d) creation of an Epic "reporting workbench" and Epic "smart form" to facilitate the outreach, monitoring and follow-up of families/children by the MH navigator; (e) use of MH Navigators (e.g., clinical social workers) to conduct family outreach, and coordination with and between clinicians; and (f) the offer of one to four clinic-to-home videoconferencing brief therapy sessions to bridge families/children unwilling or unable to access in-person MH services.