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:
The mini-course for health department staff outlines why CAMH matters for public health, offers ways to build partnerships and introduces three indicators for population-level assessment. It provides guidance on legal considerations, terminology and standards for CAMH data. Based on “Using Data to Improve CAMH: The Opening Playbook,” this course can be completed in under an hour.
The playbook helps public health departments and agencies begin assessing CAMH at the population level using existing school-based data. It highlights why public health should engage in CAMH, offers ways to build partnerships, and outlines three indicators for assessment. It also includes a fillable guide to support discussions with a public health attorney about accessing this data.
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.
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 It provides information about the intent of these laws, as well as how they can be superseded by state laws that provide a higher level of privacy protection.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 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.
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.