Child and Family Clinic-Plus Program: How to Involve Children and Families in Mental Health Screenings in a Clinic Setting

Abstract

This study was aimed at using a survey to seek strategies to improve the mental health screening rate for the Child and Family Clinic-Plus program in a clinic setting. The Child and Family Clinic-Plus program is a package involving broad-based screening in natural environments, comprehensive assessment, and evidence-based treatment. A questionnaire was conducted to collect the Clinic-Plus practitioners’ experiences and strategies regarding improvement of the screening rate and ways to better engage children and families in the Clinic-Plus Program in Western New York. Themes emerged from the results including participants utilizing multiple screening sites and personnel to conduct screenings, face to face encounter with families working well, learning collaborative meeting held by Office of Mental Health being helpful, and participants providing their challenges regarding screenings and strategies to engage families. Areas of future research developments were discussed. It concluded with the implications for practitioners to improve their practice of involving children and families in mental health screenings.