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Abstract: 

A recent survey of 589 North American senior managers and supervisors within the behavioral health service system for children and youth, for example, indicated 57% of clinicians entering the workforce were either barely or minimally prepared for evidence-based practice and fewer than 3% were very prepared. The fi ndings of this survey were similar to Connecticut’s own experience over a 10-year period of significant expansion of empirically supported in-home treatment programs, with providers frequently lamenting the challenge of finding staff with foundational training that adequately prepared them for this kind of work.This paper presents an overview of a successful initiative that has partnered behavioral health providers and graduate training programs across Connecticut and in neighboring states to bridge the divide between pre-service education and practice. The program provides an example of a collaborative effort to expand new clinician awareness and readiness for evidence-based treatment.

Keywords: Mental Health Workforce; In-Home Family Intervention Programs; Treatment Teams; Curriculum Design; Instructor Competency; Quality Improvement

Affiliations:  1: Wheeler Clinic ; 2: Yale University School of Medicine.