This article focuses on an attempt to integrate evidence-based engagement interventions into ''real world'' outpatient child mental health settings in order to increase access to care for urban youth and their families. More specifically, empirical support for introducing engagement interventions into child clinical settings will be reviewed. Then, specific engagement interventions that are delivered during the initial telephone contact with a child's adult caregiver or during the first face-to-face contact with a child and family are described with attention paid to the training necessary to assist service providers in adopting this change in practice. Factors that serve to facilitate or impede adoption of evidence-based engagement interventions are also reviewed. Finally, preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of integrating such evidence-supported approaches is presented. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 4:177-186 (2004)] KEY WORDS: engagement, access, child mental health service use, evidence-based interventions.

The Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatments and Services Consortium (CATS) was the largest youth trauma project associated with the September 11 World Trade Center disaster. CATS was created as a collaborative project involving New York State policymakers; academic scientists; clinical treatment developers; and routine practicing clinicians, supervisors, and administrators. The CATS project was established to deliver evidence-based cognitive-behavioral trauma treatments for children and adolescents affected by the September 11 terrorist attack in New York City and to examine implementation processes and outcomes associated with delivery of these treatments. Referrals were obtained on 1,764 children and adolescents; of these, 1,387 were subsequently assessed with a standardized clinical battery and 704 found to be eligible for services. Ultimately 700 youth participated in the project. Treatments were delivered in either school or clinic settings by clinicians employed in 9 provider organizations in New York City. All participating clinicians were trained on the cognitive behavioral therapy models by the treatment developers and received case consultation for 18 months by expert clinician consultants and the treatment developers. The challenges of mounting a large trauma treatment project within routine clinical practices in the aftermath of a disaster and simultaneously evaluating the project have been significant. We outline the major challenges, describe strategies we employed to address them, and make recommendations based on critical lessons learned.

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Background. Patients with schizophrenia and related disorders have more physical problems than the general population. Primary care professionals play an important role in the care of these patients as they are the main entry point into the healthcare system. We aimed to identify patient, general practitioner, and primary care centre factors associated with the number of visits of patients with schizophrenia and related disorders to general practitioners. Methods. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 primary care centres belonging to the Clinical Management Unit of Mental Health of the Regional Hospital of Málaga, Spain. The eligible population was composed of patients with schizophrenia and related disorders attending these primary care centres in the study area. Our dependent variable was the total number of general practitioner visits made by patients with schizophrenia and related disorders during the 3.5-year observation period. The independent variables were grouped into three: a) patient variables (sociodemographic and clinical), b) general practitioner variables, and c) primary care centre characteristics. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses using the random forest method were performed. Results. A total of 259 patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, 96 general practitioners, and 13 primary care centres were included. The annual mean was 3.9 visits per patient. The results showed that general practitioner age, patient gender, patient marital status, primary care centre to which the patient belonged, taking antipsychotic medication, presenting any cardiovascular risk factor, and frequency of mental health training sessions at the primary care centre were associated with an increased number of visits to general practitioners. Conclusions. The only general practitioner characteristic that was associated with the number of visits was age. There were also patient variables involved in the number of visits. Finally, mental health training for general practitioners was important for these professionals to manage patients with schizophrenia and related disorders.