COLLABORATIVE NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR CHILD MENTAL-HEALTH PROGRAM-DEVELOPMENT

A needs assessment for child mental health program development involvi ng a collaboration between a state university clinical psychology trai ning program and a coalition of publicly funded child-serving agencies is described. The benefits of the joint research effort for all partn ers 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 n ew programming and the improvement of existing services to address chi ld mental health needs, and interventions to increase community awaren ess of available services.