Accessing Behavioral Health Services: Introduction to a Special Issue of Research, Policy, and Practice

There is an urgency to improve accessibility of behavioral health services for children and families given both an increasing need and decreasing support. This special issue aims to advance our understanding of what works to make behavioral health services for children accessible through a collection of articles that examine the issue from research, policy, and practice perspectives. The five research articles included in this special issue examine the organizational and contextual features necessary to improve the accessibility of children’s behavioral health services, thus building upon the growing literature that can inform practice and policy. In addition, the special issue also includes three articles describing the practices and outcomes of innovative state and local community partnerships, with the goal of using practice to inform research and policy. The interconnectedness of research, policy, and practice—coupled with the need for ongoing communication in the arena of children’s behavioral health services—is further examined in the commentary that concludes this special issue. Taken together, the collection advances our understanding of how children’s behavioral health services can be more accessible to all, and provides a model for future integration across research, policy, and practice efforts.