Community Support Programs Branch

Regional Science to Service Meetings

In collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), four regional meetings are being sponsored to increase partnerships between Federal, state, and local mental health agencies, researchers, service providers, and consumers.

These meetings support the ongoing efforts to bridge mental health research and real-world practice. Activities that have been identified to address this goal include:

Building systems that bridge gaps between science to service;
Enhancing Federal, state, researcher, and consumer partnerships;
Developing and implementing evidence-based practices; and
Establishing strong feedback loops between stakeholders.

The regional science to service meetings present an opportunity to bring key stakeholders to the table to develop and elaborate on models that will contribute to transforming mental health service systems in all states.

The Midwestern and Northeastern regional meetings occurred in 2006. The Midwestern regional meeting was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 17-18, 2006. The meeting included representatives from the following Midwestern states:

Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.

The Northeastern regional meeting was held in Baltimore, Maryland, October 16-17, 2006. The meeting included representatives from the following Northeastern states:

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhoda Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

Additional conferences are scheduled to occur in 2007 and 2008.