Initiation of a Mental Health Family Navigator Model to Promote Early Access, Engagement and Coordination of Needed Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents (R01- Clincal Trial Required)

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage research applications to develop and test the effectiveness and implementation of family navigator models designed to promote early access, engagement and coordination of mental health treatment and services for children and adolescents who are experiencing early symptoms of mental health problems. For the purposes of this FOA, NIMH defines a family navigator model as a health care professional or paraprofessional whose role is to deploy a set of strategies designed to rapidly engage youth and families in needed treatment and services, work closely with the family and other involved treatment and service providers to optimize care and monitor the trajectory of mental health symptoms and outcomes over time. Applicants are encouraged to develop and test the navigator models ability to promote early access, engagement and coordination of mental health treatment and services for children and adolescents as soon as symptoms are detected. Of interest are navigator models that coordinate needed care strategies, determine the personalized match to the level of needed service amount, frequency and intensity, and harness novel technologies to track and monitor the trajectory of clinical, functional and behavioral progress toward achieving intended services outcomes. This FOA is published in parallel to a companion R34 FOA PAR-18-429 supporting pilot studies in preparation for the larger-scale studies described here.