NYS Office of Mental Health Issues Request For Proposals to Continue Work of Project Teach

 

Program Helps Expand Access to Behavioral Health Services for Children, Adolescents, and Families

 The NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) has issued a Request for Proposals to continue and enhance the work of Project TEACH (Training and Education for the Advancement of Children’s Health).  Project TEACH creates collaborations between primary care providers, such as pediatricians, and behavioral health care providers. This allows primary care providers to better address their patients’ mild to moderate mental health concerns and provide mental health services to children, adolescents, and their families.

Access to consultation and collaboration with child and adolescent psychiatrists is a strategy that is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Institute for Health Care Management.

In addition, the RFP will expand the Maternal Mental Health Initiative which provides maternal health providers with access to consultation, training and assistance with referral and linkage around maternal mental health issues.  

OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “Through Project TEACH we are increasing access to behavioral health services for children and their families, which is especially important now, as we deal with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on so many families across the State.  Project TEACH has also helped pregnant women and new mothers overcome maternal depression, which when identified and treated early, leads to better health outcomes for mothers and children.”

Project TEACH is comprised of three interrelated services for primary care providers: it increases access to psychiatric consultations from child and adolescent mental healthcare specialists, links primary care physicians and their patients with appropriate community-based services and provides training for primary care providers.

The RFP provides for an award of up to $17 million for a five year contract beginning July 1, 2021 to coordinate Project TEACH services which include development of specialty consultation services, development and delivery of training programs that would be available throughout the state, maintenance of the statewide Project TEACH website and marketing and promotion of the program.

Founded in 2010, the mission of Project TEACH is to strengthen and support the ability of primary care providers to deliver care to children and families who experience mild-to-moderate mental health concerns. Project TEACH educates and supports primary care providers to integrate care for mild-to moderate behavioral health concerns into primary care for children and adolescents, ages 0 to 21.

By increasing access to behavioral health care for children, Project TEACH has been especially valuable in areas that have historically been underserved. Access to care for children is essential to achieving good health care outcomes and pediatric primary care providers have an essential role in identifying and treating behavioral health problems in children.

In a National Examination of Child Psychiatric Telephone Consultation Programs' Impact on Children's Mental Health Care Utilization, children from states with statewide child psychiatry telephone access programs were significantly more likely to receive mental health services than children residing in states without such programs.  Project TEACH is helping to mitigate the shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists and promote more equitable access utilizing the network of primary care providers.

Letters of Intent to Bid on the RFP are due by December 14, and questions from bidders on the RFP are due by December 28. Proposals are due by February 1, 2021 OMH anticipates announcing the award by February 5, 2021.  More information can be found on the OMH website at: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/rfp/2020/teach/project-teach-rfp.pdf