# National Survey of State Policy Decision-making and Simulation

> **NIH NIH P50** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $286,917

## Abstract

PROJECT 1: Project Summary/Abstract
The public health impact of children's mental health services and intervention research is maximized when
findings are used by state agencies to inform policy decisions. Unfortunately, a substantive body of evidence
suggests that research typically has limited influence on policy decisions as barriers related to ineffective
dissemination, organizational complexities, and politics impede the translation of research into policy. The use
of research evidence in state children's mental health policymaking can potentially be improved by
dissemination strategies that are tailored to the individual attributes of decision makers and the contexts in
which decisions are made. However, very little policy dissemination research has focused on mental health
and almost none has focused on children's mental health. The proposed project will begin to address this
knowledge gap by integrating methods from the fields of policy dissemination research and systems science.
We will conduct a web-based survey of 450 policymakers in state behavioral health, health, and Medicaid
agencies, use a qualitative comparative case study approach and conduct approximately 50 interviews with
state agency policymakers in four purposively selected states, and integrate quantitative and qualitative data
using an agent-based modeling methodology. The project's specific aims are to: 1) Assess the extent of
research use in children's mental health policymaking within state agencies and identify individual, agency, and
state factors that influence policy decisions; 2) Integrate quantitative and qualitative data to develop a
conceptual framework of the determinants of the uses children's mental health research evidence within state
agencies; and 3) Build a prototype agent-based model to identify modifiable targets for intervention to enhance
the uses of children's mental health research evidence within state agencies. The project is innovative because
it will: A) produce the first national snapshot of the uses of children's mental health research by state
policymakers and their policy priorities; B) generate a framework of the determinants of children's mental
health research use in state agencies; and C) apply systems science methods to identify targets for
dissemination intervention. The project is significant and will have impact because it will provide an empirical
basis for the design of dissemination strategies that enhance the use of children's mental health research in
state agencies, thereby accelerating the translation of child mental health services research into evidence-
informed policy decisions. The project team consists of an early career investigator with expertise in mental
health policy dissemination research (Purtle) and senior investigators who have extensive experience working
with children's state mental health authorities (McKay, Hoagwood) and systems science methods (Luke). The
ultimate goal of the project is to map the determin...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9933114
- **Project number:** 5P50MH113662-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Mary McKernan McKay
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $286,917
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9933114

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9933114, National Survey of State Policy Decision-making and Simulation (5P50MH113662-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9933114. Licensed CC0.

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