“Not accepting new patients,” is a phrase too frequently heard by frantic parents in search of behavioral health treatment for their children. There are simply not enough services available to meet the need. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has endorsed primary care physicians (PCPs) as critical to ameliorating this state of affairs by promoting skill development for their membership to prevent, assess, and treat children's mental health issues. Health care reform initiatives are calling for the establishment of patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) where the physician is responsible for ensuring comprehensive and well-coordinated care that includes mental health. These movements offer opportunities for psychologists to collaborate with PCPs, capitalizing on psychologists' specialized expertise. While there has been increasing discussion of collaborative health care models, much of this work is focused on the treatment of adults. This article draws on the authors' experiences developing a pediatric behavioral health and primary care colocation program in Connecticut and the lessons learned from more than a decade of partnering. The overarching lesson is that psychologists can facilitate practice transformation in pediatric primary care to improve early mental health detection, intervention, and referral. This article highlights knowledge, skill sets, and considerations for psychologists wishing to establish effective partnerships with pediatric primary care to improve behavioral health service delivery.

The existence of a workforce crisis in behavioral health has been recognized for decades. However, workforce problems often have been viewed as too large, too complex, and too daunting for individual states to tackle. This article reviews the progress of one state in systematically strengthening its workforce as part of a federally supported effort to transform mental health services. The workforce priorities in Connecticut are identified and the specific workforce transformation projects and their impact are described. The success in sustaining these initiatives after cessation of federal support is reviewed. The authors conclude by offering five recommendations to guide comprehensive state workforce development. This work has particular salience for the many states across the nation that have identified behavioral health service and workforce needs as obstacles to comprehensive health care reform.

The challenges of including evidence-based practice (EBP) and evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in social work education continue to be discussed in the literature. As the behavioral health system moves toward greater practitioner accountability and expanded implementation of EBTs, it becomes increasingly important to prepare students for this type of practice. A successful provider-developed curriculum, designed to prepare students for extensive EBT job opportunities in Connecticut, was disseminated to local graduate schools through a faculty fellowship. This article discusses provider and faculty perspectives about course design elements that contributed to its effectiveness, as well as how the course was subsequently adapted to online learning for Master of Social Work (MSW) students, with evidence of positive impact on clinician development.

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