TEAM UP for Children Improves Access to Behavioral Health Care
We launched TEAM UP for Children (Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health in Urban Pediatrics) in 2015, and, through a partnership with The Klarman Family Foundation (KFF), now reach 40,000 children at community health centers in Massachusetts.
TEAM UP seeks to build the capacity of local community health centers and clinics to deliver high-quality evidence-based integrated behavioral health care to children and their families.
In addition to expanding access to care by integrating behavioral health clinicians and community health workers into pediatric primary care clinics, TEAM UP also accelerates access to specialty care and other vital community services for families.
In 2024, we announced a new commitment with KFF to Boston Medical Center to establish the TEAM UP Scaling and Sustainability Center, which will expand TEAM UP’s reach to 126,000 additional children in 29 clinics across Massachusetts by 2028.
Results from the TEAM UP evaluation indicate important gains in access, quality, cost, and satisfaction in participating health centers.
- More than half of children see a therapist on the same day a concern is identified
- Children who see a TEAM UP clinician on the same day are more likely to come back for more care
- Fewer than 5% of families decline services
- Children diagnosed with ADHD are twice as likely to get timely care and half as likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs
- The percent of children prescribed 3 or more psychotropic drugs has been cut nearly in half
- Children with mental health concerns receive more care compared to similar children at non-TEAM UP health centers, at no additional cost
- TEAM UP pediatricians report less burnout and greater satisfaction
“There is a tremendous need for better integration of behavioral health care into pediatric primary care clinics…TEAM UP builds teams of health care providers that include community health workers and behavioral health clinicians who bring a new level of care to thousands of Massachusetts children.”
Megan Bair-Merritt, MD, MSCE, TEAM UP evaluation Co-Director, pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, and professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine
