TEAM UP Center and Carmel Hill Fund Work Together to Expand Pediatric Behavioral Health Services in NYC
The Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care Universally in Pediatrics (TEAM UP) Scaling and Sustainability Center, based at Boston Medical Center (BMC), announced a new collaboration with The Carmel Hill Fund to expand integrated behavioral health services across New York City (NYC). The TEAM UP Center equips primary care practices to integrate behavioral healthcare to ensure children and youth receive timely, evidence-informed mental healthcare to address the growing pediatric mental health crisis. With a $6 million investment, The Carmel Hill Fund will provide anchor funding towards a $10 million effort to rollout TEAM UP in NYC, reaching 25-60,000 children in up to five pediatric practices. Funding will also support collaborations with NY-based organizations to augment the long-term impact of this initiative through evaluation and advocacy efforts.
As a private foundation, The Carmel Hill Fund invests in the future and wellbeing of youth growing up in New York City by championing efforts that improve mental health and literacy outcomes, rooted in positive, affirming and supportive relationships. The Carmel Hill Fund envisions a New York City where youth find power in reading and their mental health and wellbeing is prioritized.
This collaboration comes in direct response to NYC’s 2023 Mental Health Plan to address the needs of children, youth, and families. Over the past year, with support from The Carmel Hill Fund, the TEAM UP Center led a comprehensive needs assessment of the current pediatric behavioral health system in NYC. “Through our shared exploration with the TEAM UP Center, we learned that is that there is work to be done to expand access to mental health services within primary care”, said Dr. Hazel Guzman, Carmel Hill Fund’s Youth Mental Health Program Officer. “Based on TEAM UP’s success in Massachusetts, we were excited to make this investment to significantly impact the well-being of children across the city and hopefully serve as a model for further adaptation. We are grateful to the institutions throughout New York City who participated in the needs assessment and to pediatric community for embracing this evidenced-based approach.”
“This collaboration represents a pivotal step in bringing evidence-informed, integrated behavioral healthcare to the communities of NYC,” said Anita Morris, MSN, executive director of TEAM UP Center. “The support of The Carmel Hill Fund will significantly enhance how pediatric practices in the city deliver mental health care to the patients they serve — truly making a difference for children and their families.”
Evidence of TEAM UP’s positive impact is well established in Massachusetts, where the model was originally developed. “By implementing a fully integrated behavioral health model, the pediatric care we provide at our health center has been transformed,” said Emily Feinberg, ScD, CPNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner at DotHouse Health, one of seven TEAM UP practices across the Commonwealth. “TEAM UP’s integrated model breaks down barriers to care, ensuring that children in communities with the greatest need receive the behavioral health support they deserve.” Beyond her role as a primary care provider, Feinberg also serves as Senior Director of the TEAM UP Center and is a faculty member at the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute at Brown University School of Public Health.
To learn more about this initiative and how to get involved, reach out to the TEAM UP Center directly for more information.
About TEAM UP
Since its inception in 2015, TEAM UP has supported more than 15 practices and trained more than 750 professionals in implementing the TEAM UP model and building capacity for integrated behavioral healthcare. Anchor funding for the TEAM UP Center was provided by the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation and The Klarman Family Foundation.