To assess and improve child and adolescent mental health (CAMH), the Child Development Studies team within the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with PHII to leverage informatics approaches to increase state, tribal, local and territorial system health department capacity. Multiple resources have been created as part of this work:
Using Data to Improve CAMH: The Opening Playbook
The playbook provides a first step for public health departments and other agencies to begin assessing CAMH at the population level using school-based, already available data. It highlights the rationale for public health engagement in CAMH, suggests ways that health departments can form partnerships to assess and improve CAMH, and proposes three indicators to use for assessing CAMH at the population level. The playbook also includes a fillable guide to discuss obtaining this type of data when speaking with a public health attorney.
Webinar:
Using Data to Improve CAMH
The webinar delves into the content of the playbook on using data to improve CAMH. It defines CAMH, explains how the playbook began and explores different sections of the playbook such as featured successes, resources and legal considerations.
Summary of Laws Related to Child and Adolescent Mental Health
The summary was developed by reviewing six key federal laws relevant to CAMH. It provides information about the intent of these laws, as well as how they can be superseded by state laws that provide a higher level of privacy protection. It also includes references on how states allow minors to consent for treatment and data sharing.
Legal Considerations on Federal and State Privacy Laws
Legal questions regarding data use will depend on specific facts and applicable laws, but there are general considerations for anyone seeking to access, use and share data. This resource provides general information on the legal landscape for data collection and access.
CAMH User Stories
These stories highlight those using CAMH indicators–including school readiness, school attendance and school disciplinary actions–to measure and improve CAMH. We explore stories from Minnesota, North Carolina and South Carolina.
we'd like your feedback
We developed the CAMH playbook in collaboration with CDC to support public health agencies in improving their CAMH surveillance activities.
We invite you to share your CAMH story along with any suggestions that could help us identify further improvement opportunities at the link below.
For questions about the child and adolescent mental health project or the resources on this page, please contact us.
PHII is a program of The Task Force for Global Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded as The Task Force for Child Survival in 1984. The Task Force is affiliated with Emory University.