Thank you for joining us for the 4th Annual TEAM UP Symposium – a day of sharing and learning about integrated behavioral health care for children and families! 

TEAM UP for Children hosts an annual gathering of stakeholders committed to improving the health and well-being of children and families. The goal of this day-long event is two-pronged: to share learning from TEAM UP for Children and its community health center partners, and to elicit input on the work ahead. The agenda for the event consists of presentations, panels, and breakout sessions on topics of interest, such as how telehealth has impacted access to care, ways to support and grow the integrated behavioral health workforce, how input from families informs the TEAM UP initiative, and how upcoming state priorities may impact behavioral health services.

Were you not able to attend a session during the 4th Annual TEAM UP Symposium? Click the links in the agenda below to watch the recorded session. 

Intended Audience:

• Medical providers, behavioral health clinicians, community health workers, and those seeking a career as a health professional with an interest in behavioral health care
• Parent or caregiver advocates for children with behavioral or developmental needs
• Community-based mental health providers, Early Intervention providers, and school counselors
• Local, state, and federal policymakers, funders, and advocates for comprehensive child behavioral health care
• Health insurance companies and accountable care organizations

Agenda

3rd Annual TEAM UP Symposium - January 10, 2020

Metcalf Trustee Center, 1 Silber Way, Floor 9, Boston, MA, 02215

Each year, TEAM UP for Children hosts a gathering of stakeholders committed to improving the health and well-being of children and families. The goal of this day-long event is to share learning from TEAM UP for Children and its community health center partners. The agenda for the event consists of presentations, panels, and breakout sessions on topics of interest, such as how to operationalize integrated care models, clinical training and skills-building for integrated behavioral health clinicians and community health workers, and advocating for systems change to sustain services for children and families. 

Symposium information:

Read and Download the Symposium Newsletter (PDF)

Read and download THE agenda

Speakers Bios

Download the Presentations

Read about continuing education (CE) credits available for physicians and social workers

The 2nd Annual Symposium, held on January 11th, 2019, focused on aligning organizational structure and revenue cycle to support integrated care, the role of the Family Partners & Community Health Workers in supporting families, and special skills and services for families with young children. Breakout sessions covered sustainability of the model & advocacy, the early childhood BRANCH initiative, and clinical training for the care team. The symposium was attended by individuals and groups from over 30 public health and community agencies who reported forging professional connections and learning new, transformative approaches to addressing important issues in healthcare.

Some main takeaways included:

1. Integrated behavioral healthcare has many positive impacts, including greater interdisciplinary collaboration and communication, and greater professional fulfillment from providing better care, both individually and organizationally.
2. Optimizing organizational structures and operations for integrated care leads to better quality, access, and financial sustainability.
3. Building a culture of integration is a team sport, which fosters shared vision and empowers care team members to work at the top of their discipline.
4. While some services provided by integrated care teams are reimbursable, strong advocacy, both at the local and national level, is critical to sustaining the entire integrated team, including Family Partners and Community Health Workers.
5. A comprehensive approach to integrated care must include capacity building around Early Childhood and preventative services. Identifying patients in need and intervening at the earliest possible age is key to achieving optimal long-term outcomes.
6. Providing high quality, effective behavioral health service within the primary care setting involves clinical training in flexible, innovative interventions.

Slides from the 2nd Annual Symposium and biographies on all the presenters can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/teamupsymposium2.

The 1st Annual Symposium, held on December 8th, 2017, focused on role development for Behavioral Health Clinicians & Community Health Workers/Family Partners, Early Childhood & Implementation of the SWYC screening tool, and clinical models & reimbursement strategies for integrated care, followed by a wrap-up on sustaining and disseminating the work. This symposium was attended by a diverse gathering of stakeholders, all of whom share TEAM UP’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of children and families.

Some main takeaways included:

1. Early identification of developmental or behavioral health risks, and early intervention to ameliorate these risks are effective strategies that promote healthy development and improve outcomes for children and families.
2. Building a strong interdisciplinary team requires buy-in across the health center and flexibility defining roles over time. Full standardization of roles is not the goal; it is best to play to each team member’s unique strengths. Physical co-location, protected time, and staff coaching on how to utilize new roles are key facilitators.
3. A helpful way to conceptualize comprehensive behavioral health care is the “three-legged stool” model:
   1. Evidence-based practice, informed by best available research
   2. Clinical judgment
   3. Patient’s individual values and preferences
4. Cultural considerations are crucial to all aspects of this work, impacting and informing our clinical practice, research, and policy implementation.
5. An integrated pediatric behavioral health care model in the primary care setting is financially sustainable! We will be learning and developing further strategies as ACOs are implemented.

Slides from the 1st Annual Symposium and biographies on all the presenters can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/teamupsymposium.