Florida Department of Health receives $445K Special Projects of Regional and National Significance grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration

Pediatric mental health care access - Florida’s pediatric mental health care access (pmhca) project seeks to accelerate statewide improvements in access to pediatric behavioral health expertise, by expanding a proven system of teleconsultation, care coordination, and provider training. As behavioral health needs continue to rise—especially in rural and underserved communities where primary care providers (pcps) are often the only accessible point of care—this project strengthens a statewide model that delivers timely, reliable support to the providers families rely on most. Although earlier pmhca investments improved access, many children still face delays in screening, diagnosis, and treatment due to workforce shortages, extended wait times, and fragmented referral pathways. This proposal responds directly to these challenges by expanding the pediatric behavioral health collaborative and increasing the capacity of Florida’s pmhca hubs to provide real-time psychiatric consultation, care navigation, and evidence-based training in high-need areas. A core priority is growing teleconsultation access in rural counties, health professional shortage areas, and communities with limited child psychiatry resources. Strengthened warm-handoff workflows between the statewide psychiatric access line and regional behavioral health hubs will ensure pcps receive coordinated follow-up, and families understand next steps. Targeted technical assistance will help practices build telehealth readiness and overcome infrastructure barriers that limit participation in consultation and training. The project will further strengthen its care coordination model by ensuring fidelity to national care coordination standards. Care coordinators will support screening, referrals, follow-up, and family navigation, with focused attention on children and youth who need help connecting to behavioral health supports or navigating complex systems of care. Enhanced support will help adolescents receiving behavioral health services move seamlessly from pediatric to adult behavioral health systems. Provider training will be tailored to rural and underserved practices, focusing on early identification, crisis response, behavioral health screening, and management of mild to moderate conditions using evidence-based, least-invasive behavioral and environmental strategies. Provider-informed communication tools and outreach activities will help reduce stigma and increase awareness of available services. To support long-term sustainability, the project includes strategies to address structural and financial barriers, such as standardizing workflows, improving data and reporting systems, reducing provider burden, aligning services with reimbursable models, and strengthening partnerships with statewide systems of care. These actions will help practices maintain integrated behavioral health workflows and continue using teleconsultation and care coordination services beyond the grant period. Through these integrated and outcomes-focused strategies, Florida will ensure that pediatric providers—especially those serving rural and underserved communities—can reliably access timely behavioral health expertise. Strengthening pmhca’s teleconsultation, care coordination, and training framework will increase early identification, improve continuity of care, and expand the number of children and youth receiving needed behavioral health services statewide.