HealthDay (9/24, Gotkine) reports a study found that “for children at federally qualified health centers implementing behavioral health integration, encounters with a behavioral health clinician (BHC) and psychotropic prescriptions are associated with improved psychosocial symptoms.” Researchers observed that among 942 unique children at federally qualified health centers, “57.5 percent received any type of treatment and 42.5 percent were in the control group. The researchers found that the 17-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) scores were 1.51 points lower among children in the treatment group after having at least one encounter with a BHC compared with the control group. PSC-17 scores were 2.21 points lower among children in the treatment group after they received a psychotropic prescription compared with the control group. There was no significant change in scores among children with at least one community health worker encounter.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Behavioral Health Integration Can Improve Psychosocial Health of Children,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, September 24, 2025