Conceptualising and Facilitating Success in Interagency Collaborations: Implications for Practice from the Literature

Abstract

Collaboration between normally separate agencies involved in cases of child mental health, and those supporting their participation and inclusion in school settings, is being increasingly promoted as the answer to intervening in a more ecologically valid and responsive manner. Yet a clear-cut evidence base supporting interagency collaboration in practice is hindered by wide variation in how collaboration is defined, how collaborative initiatives are established and run, and how the success of widely varying programs is interpreted or evaluated. Despite this variation, some strong indicators of success continue to appear. An overview of the literature on interagency collaboration in the context of child mental health, special education, and wellbeing is presented, including risks, benefits, and indicators of success.

Research Foundations for Evidence-Informed Early Childhood Intervention Performance Checklists

“…Findings in a number of research syntheses indicate that interagency collaboration has positive benefits for programs, families, and children [348,[359][360][361]. Foster-Fishman et al [359] and Herlihy [360] found that effective interagency collaboration included shared values and goals; effective communication among interagency team members; and agency support for interagency collaboration, see also [358]. Similar types of characteristics have been identified as important for effective intrateam collaboration and functioning [111,347,362].…”

“…Both the Collaboration to Learn and Grow Checklist and Communication for Teaming and Collaboration Checklist include practices that focus on either or both interagency and intrateam collaboration as ways of improving team functioning and effectiveness; for example, [111,348,[358][359][360][361][362]. Findings in a number of research syntheses indicate that interagency collaboration has positive benefits for programs, families, and children [348,[359][360][361].…”

“…Both the Collaboration to Learn and Grow Checklist and Communication for Teaming and Collaboration Checklist include practices that focus on either or both interagency and intrateam collaboration as ways of improving team functioning and effectiveness; for example, [111,348,[358][359][360][361][362]. Findings in a number of research syntheses indicate that interagency collaboration has positive benefits for programs, families, and children [348,[359][360][361]. Foster-Fishman et al [359] and Herlihy [360] found that effective interagency collaboration included shared values and goals; effective communication among interagency team members; and agency support for interagency collaboration, see also [358].…”

“…In a recent review of the family-centered practices literature, Rodger and Keen [371] noted that shared decision-making between families and practitioners improved both the provision of child and family services and the outcomes of those services; see also [372]. Family member participation in shared decision-making on assessment and intervention teams includes, but is not limited to, complete and unbiased information sharing so families can make informed decisions [111,180,184,360].…”

“…Interagency agreements have been found to be at least one way to facilitate smooth transitions between programs and agencies [392][393][394]. Herlihy [360], in a review of the characteristics of effective interagency collaboration, identified open and effective communication, positive interpersonal relationships, and shared goals as important for collaboration to have positive consequences. Results reported in a study by Hadden [392] found that these characteristics as well as several others (e.g., review and monitoring of interagency agreements) were related to successful transitions from early intervention to preschool programs.…”