Collaborative needs assessment for child mental health program development

A needs assessment for child mental health program development involving a collaboration between a state university clinical psychology training program and a coalition of publicly funded child-serving agencies is described. The benefits of the joint research effort for all partners are highlighted as well as the lessons learned about the processes of such a partnership. Application of the results included curricular modifications to the university's training program, the addition of new programming and the improvement of existing services to address child mental health needs, and interventions to increase community awareness of available services.