ABSTRACT OF RESEARCH PLAN In response to a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) request for proposals, Danya International, Inc, (Danya), proposes to continue development and testing of TIES: Training Intervention for the Engagement of Families. Recent consensus reports conclude that the undertreatment of children with serious mental health needs constitutes a public health crisis, and addressing barriers to effectively engaging children in child mental health services are major concerns (DHHS, 2003;U,S. Public Health Service, 2000). To address this need, TIES is a Web-based training toolkit for certified trainers to use to facilitate in-person trainings for diverse groups of mental health professionals in evidence-based approaches to engaging and retaining children and families in treatment. A significant strength of this proposal is Danya's collaboration with Dr. Mary McKay and her colleagues at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM). Dr, McKay and her team have been leading workshops with mental health service providers for over 10 years and have completed well over 200 presentations across the country to date. The bulk of her trainings focus on evidence-based telephone engagement strategies and first clinical interview strategies as a means for engaging families in mental health care. The TIES training is intended to facilitate the dissemination of an evidence-based program to improve provider knowledge and skills around problem-solving barriers to mental health care with families. TIES will comprise several components to ensure the sustained implementation of engagement strategies in practice: ? The TIESengagement.com Web site, containing information and resources for consumers and trainers. - The public area contains general information about the TIES program, as well as an online request form for requesting TIES trainings. - The trainer area is a password-secured area containing the certification tutorial and test for trainers-in-training, and access to the presentation builder tool where trainers can create a presentation based on the clinic setting (rural vs. urban) and client characteristics (substance abuse, trauma, and conduct problems), ? The TIES presentation tool is a Flash-based or PowerPoint-based presentation containing information on the evidence base behind the TIES training, as well as the strategies and protocols clinics can implement to improve family engagement in treatment. ? Training materials, including a training manual, training workbook, case studies, worksheets, and activities will be created for use in the TIES trainings. These materials will serve to increase attendee participation in the trainings and ensure the information and skills can be translated into practice in the clinic setting. To accomplish these goals, the TIES Phase II project has the following objectives: ? To expand the pool of qualified trainers through a comprehensive standardized certification program. ? To provide trainers with Web-based, easily accessible tools and resources for presenting TIES trainings. ? To improve the knowledge and skills of mental health professionals for engaging youth and families in treatment through large-scale dissemination of Dr. McKay's evidence-based engagement skills. ? To maximize implementation and sustainability of the engagement principles in mental health programs through the use of a learning collaborative (LC). ? To develop accurate. and efficient methods to assess clinician fidelity to the engagement program. ? To ultimately enhance mental health and clinical outcomes of youth and their families by improving access to, retention in, and satisfaction with child mental health services .
