The objective of the proposed research is to investigate factors that are conducive to interorganizational coordination, and changes in patterns of interactions between organizations within developing child mental health service systems. The research plan will be carried out through a secondary analysis of service system data collected in 1991 and 1993 in two North Carolina counties as part of a CASSP research evaluation of the Children's Initiative sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The specific aims of this research are: 1) To test hypotheses predicting the influence of situational factors (i.e., knowledge that agencies possess about each other's goals and services, domain similarity, and satisfaction between agencies) and transactional structure and processes (i.e., extent of helpfulness in goal attainment, influence in shaping mental health policy, and formalization of interagency arrangements) on the nature and intensity of resource flows between organizations (i.e., client referrals, funding exchange, information exchange) and coordination of activities; 2) To compare variation in factors conducive to resource flows and coordination of activities within urban and rural systems of care; and 3) To assess changes over time in patterns of resource flows and coordination within service network subgroups, specifically between agencies interacting with child welfare services and between agencies interacting with juvenile justice services. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data will be examined using the dyad (or pair-wise relationships) as the unit of analysis. Bivariate and multivariate statistics will be employed. Findings will contribute to the knowledge base in the mental health services research field about interagency collaboration in the delivery of community support services to children with serious emotional disturbances.
