Pediatric Mental Health Care Access - The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) proposes to expand California's statewide Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) program, the California Child and Adolescent Mental Health Access Portal (Cal-MAP), by establishing the Youth Substance Use and Mental Health Access Program (YUMAP). Supported by the California Department of Health Care Services through the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, Cal-MAP provides psychiatric consultation, provider education, care coordination, and behavioral health resources that strengthen pediatric primary care providers' ability to identify, assess, treat, and refer children, adolescents, and young adults with behavioral health conditions. YUMAP will leverage this established statewide infrastructure to expand specialized support for youth substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions. Children and adolescents across California face rising rates of substance use disorders, overdose, and co-occurring behavioral health conditions, while access to pediatric behavioral health specialists remains limited, particularly in rural, Tribal, and other medically underserved communities. Pediatric primary care providers are often the first—and sometimes only—clinicians available to identify and address these concerns, yet many lack timely access to specialty consultation, implementation support, and referral resources. YUMAP will strengthen providers' capacity to deliver developmentally appropriate, evidence-based care through multidisciplinary psychiatric and substance use consultation, continuing education, care coordination, referral navigation, and clinical decision-support resources. Guided by the American Society of Addiction Medicine 4th Edition Guidelines for Adolescents and Transitional Age Youth and the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) framework, the program will promote evidence-based screening, assessment, brief intervention, treatment, and referral practices, appropriate levels of care for youth with substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions. The project will serve pediatricians, family physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychiatrists, and other clinicians caring for children and youth statewide. Outreach will prioritize providers serving rural and Tribal communities, Health Professional Shortage Areas, Medically Underserved Areas and Populations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, school-based health centers, and other safety-net settings with significant behavioral health workforce shortages. Building on Cal-MAP's established statewide pediatric mental health care access program network of registered pediatric primary care providers, YUMAP will expand access to pediatric behavioral health expertise, strengthen coordination across healthcare, behavioral health, schools, and community organizations, and improve timely identification, treatment, and referral for youth with substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions. By increasing provider knowledge, confidence, and access to specialty expertise, YUMAP will improve equitable access to integrated behavioral health services and strengthen California's capacity to meet the growing behavioral health needs of children, adolescents, and young adults.
