1. The REsource for Advancing Children’s Health www.TheReachInstitute.org Implementing Evidence-Based Assessments and Interventions in the “Real World”

2. 2 Families are not getting the assistance they need Many proven treatments now available but… –Information is not getting to families, health care providers and schools –It takes anywhere from 15-20 years for a proven intervention to reach a provider who will use it with your child Information and assistance needs to be –Family friendly –Guided by family input and experience –Science-based –Practical and hands-on

3. Accelerating this process: The REsource for Advancing Children’s Health: The REACH Institute

4. 4 The REACH Institute ~ Putting Science to Work ~ Promoting a family-oriented approach to mental health care Developing partnerships with parents, pediatricians, clinicians, schools, and others to apply best practices and proven interventions Providing “hands-on” assistance to partners Focusing on Key Disorder Areas The Institute was established in the spring of 2006 to accelerate the acceptance and effective use of proven interventions that foster children’s emotional and behavioral health. REACH fills a unique role by:

5. 5 Step 1 Identify and Validate Identify key problem areas w/partners Obtain consensus & commitment on the latest, most effective interventions derived from rigorous research REACH Approach: A 4-step process Step 2 Adapt Make interventions “user-,” “child-” and “family-friendly ” …so they can be readily applied by educators, health care providers, children, and families Step 3 Distribute, Apply and Evaluate Use strategic learning partnerships Reach as many children as possible in a credible and effective way Evaluate, feed results back into Step 2 Step 4 Empower Strategic partners carry forward the mission to their own organization members, to enable proven interventions to reach the most kids in the shortest time

6. REACH’s Current Program Areas Psychotherapy Best practices for primary care provider Parent empowerment Currently expanding programs to schools

7. Typical Training Approach Hands-on, with role plays and extensive practice Can be done “on-site” or at national locations 2 day face-to-face training followed by: –6 months of twice-monthly phone call consultation and support –Individual presentations –Peer learning

8. Improving Students’ School Success Through Behavioral Supports In order to expand this model to schools: –26 researchers and representatives from national organizations attended a meeting in DC 5 possible areas of training needs were identified: –Cognitive behavior treatments and specific EBPs –Training staff in early identification –Prevention of conduct problems in the classroom (e.g., classroom management) –Violence prevention, school safety, school climate interventions –Parent and family support Next steps include developing a steering committee, contacting intervention developers, and developing specific trainings for school staff

9. Contacts For More Information: www.TheReachInstitute.org Lisa Hunter Romanelli, PhD at lisa@thereachinstitute.org or Erum Nadeem, PhD, erum@thereachinstitute.org 1-212-947-7322

10. 10 The REACH Institute REsource for Advancing Children’s Health The REACH Institute REsource for Advancing Children’s Health