The Family VOICE Study

Family centered mental health treatment with children values and supports the role of parents in their child's recovery. However, medications are often the primary focus in community treatment, even in preschool age youth, with increasing use of antipsychotic medication for serious mood and behavior problems. Although medication may be necessary to address safety issues (such as severe aggression) it can cause serious side effects, such as obesity, and medication only does not follow recommended care for these types of problems. Psychosocial treatments are highly recommended (e.g. Programs that coach empower parents to manage their child's difficult behaviors) as part of comprehensive child treatment. Parent involvement in psychosocial treatment has clear benefits for their child's mental health, and unlike medication, the effects can last long after treatment is completed. However, problems related to access (e.g. long waiting lists) and use (e.g. parent mistrust mental health services) of services are common. Maryland, like other states, has developed a system to improve medication safety by reviewing health information about the child to determine if the treatment is appropriate. This reduces unnecessary medication treatment and ensures children have adequate health screening before starting any treatment. Those approved for medication have moderate-severe mental health problems, which supports their need for comprehensive (medication and psychosocial) treatment, instead of medication only. In this study, investigators partner with parents/family advocates, child-serving agencies, and health providers to develop a Family Navigator (FN) Service to link with this medication program. A FN is an individual who has cared for their own child with mental illness. The FN supports parents, provide information on psychosocial treatment options, and address barriers to using services. The goals of this program are to improve use of psychosocial services, and to improve parent empowerment, support, and satisfaction with their child's mental health treatment. The investigators also expect that the FN Service will improve the child's overall mental health and reduce the likelihood of a medication dose increase or another medication added during the initial treatment period. The FN Service is provided for parents of public insured children ages 3-15 years newly approved for antipsychotic medication treatment. The FN Services will be provided by phone, which supports families in both rural and urban settings. The investigators' long term goal is to develop a FN program that strongly supports Family-centered treatment of children and can be used to help families in other underserved areas beyond Maryland.

Background: Emerging data on serious antipsychotic medication side effects (e.g. new onset diabetes)has heightened concerns about sharp increases in "off label" pediatric antipsychotic treatment of mood/behavioral disorders, and led to increased scrutiny of pediatric mental health treatment. Several states are developing antipsychotic medication pre-authorization programs to reduce inappropriate or unsafe prescribing. This Healthcare system change, however, fails to address a critical underlying problem that parents are not effectively engaged to utilize non-medication treatments and serve an active role in their child's mental health recovery. Psychosocial treatments (e.g. parenting skills training to manage aggressive behaviors) are evidence-based interventions that are poorly utilized in community care. The Maryland Medicaid program developed a pediatric Antipsychotic Pre-Authorization Program that requires providers to make at least one psychosocial treatment referral in order to obtain medication approval. This program was shaped by strong input from parents, health experts, and child serving agency administrators to promote psychosocial treatment referral, but it does not provide any Family-centered services to improve treatment utilization. Objectives: We propose to link the Antipsychotic Pre-Authorization Program with a Family Navigator Service. The investigators will examine if Navigator Services improve parent empowerment, support, and satisfaction with child services. The investigators will also assess if Navigator Services are associated with improved psychosocial service utilization, improved child functioning, and lower likelihood of medication increases (higher dose or addition of another medication). The investigators' long term objective is to develop a Family Navigator model that is highly portable, amenable for use in underserved areas, addresses the needs of low income families with young children, and promotes evidence-based mental health care. Methods: The investigators will conduct a randomized trial of a telephone Family Navigator Service versus usual care for 240 Medicaid insured youth 10 years old who are approved for antipsychotic medication treatment. The Family Navigator is a parent who has experienced their own child's mental illness. Navigators will provide support, information on psychosocial treatment options, and options to address barriers to care. The investigators will assess family-centered outcomes at baseline and 90 days (medication re-authorization). The investigators will use generalized linear mixed effects models with the appropriate link functions to assess whether there is a significant difference in improvement from baseline to the post-treatment assessment on the outcome variables between the Family Navigator condition and treatment as usual condition. A significant interaction between time and study condition would support the hypothesis that a Family Navigator will improve parent and child outcomes.