# Navigation and Parent Peer Support to Promote Access and Retention of Children in Mental Health Services

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $185,990

## Abstract

Project Summary Abstract
 Parent peer navigation (PPN), provided by other caregivers who have lived experience raising a youth
with mental health conditions, holds promise as a service that can aid in improving both youth and caregiver
outcomes by overcoming system- and individual-level barriers to care. This proposed study will support initial
testing of a research- and theory- based Parent Peer Navigation (PPN) model created by one of the nation's
leading advocacy organizations for caregivers of children and youth with mental health challenges, the
federally funded Family-Run Executive Directors Leadership Association. This model, called the National
Parent Peer Support Practice Model (Practice Model) has an associated training program and aims to
effectively engage parents/caregivers in necessary treatment for their children by helping them connect with
assessment, treatment and community-based resources and prepare them to independently navigate the child
serving system, community-based resources, and ongoing opportunities for support once the PPN provider is
no longer involved. The Practice Model incorporates five theory- and research-based components of support:
(1) information/educational, (2) instructional/skills development; (3) emotional/affirmational, (4) instrumental;
and (5) advocacy. The study will focus on children in early stages of impairment as a result of mental health
challenges for which prevention of further disability is possible. It will take advantage of implementation of the
Practice Model through two non-profit family-run organizations (FROs) and will occur in three phases,
beginning with preparatory work to develop recruitment strategies in collaboration with local schools, formalize
implementation outcomes (acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity) and other measures followed by a
Feasibility Study to finalize recruitment, procedures and measurement frames.
 Finally, in Phase 3, we will conduct a cluster randomized trial to provide a preliminary test of the impact
of the Practice Model on key caregiver and child outcomes. Children who are experiencing mental health
challenges but have not had exposure to formal mental health services will be identified by collaborating
schools and referred for family support. Consenting families will be randomly assigned to a treatment group
who will receive PPN services based on the Practice Model from participating FROs, or a comparison group
who will be referred to a Family Support Organization which provide other types of resources (e.g., referrals,
information). We predict that youth and parents receiving PPN will show significantly greater rates of access,
engagement and retention in services as compared to the comparison group. We also predict that at 6 months
following PPN onset, children in the treatment group will exhibit improved social/emotional functioning and that
parents in the treatment group will exhibit increased empowerment and decreased parenting stres...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9961668
- **Project number:** 5R34MH119431-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** BRUNO J ANTHONY
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $185,990
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-20 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9961668

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9961668, Navigation and Parent Peer Support to Promote Access and Retention of Children in Mental Health Services (5R34MH119431-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9961668. Licensed CC0.

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