Collaboration between Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Welfare for Adolescent Girls with Multiple and Complex Needs: An Evaluation by Adolescents, (Step)Parents, and Professionals

ABSTRACTCollaboration is put forward as a promising strategy for optimizing care delivery for the most vulnerable populations. The objective of this research was to explore how adolescents, (step)parents and professionals evaluate an intensive collaboration between a child welfare residential center and a child and adolescent psychiatric facility, aiming to optimize care delivery for adolescent girls with multiple and complex needs. This was done using in-depth interviews with nine adolescents and twelve (step)parents, along with focus groups with 44 professionals. Several benefits were identified: (1) care delivery is better tailored to meet individual needs; (2) access to mental health services and therapy implementation and follow-up are ameliorated; (3) focus on integration into society as well as on psychiatric support; (4) capacity and efficiency of care delivery is enhanced. Pitfalls were also mentioned: (1) preserving agency of clients; (2) maintaining the identity of the collaborating partners an...