This study tests an innovative model for preventing child maltreatment and adverse child experiences (ACEs) by aligning health and social services for vulnerable families in St. Louis. The Parents and Children Together - St. Louis (PACT-STL) initiative braids together services and funding streams from multiple sectors to assist families with children who are referred to child protective services (CPS) for first-time and low-severity problems.

This study tests the effectiveness of a global all-payer payment model combined with multi-sector community health teams in improving health and social outcomes for Vermont residents. The Vermont Blueprint for Health initiative is among the most ambitious statewide health financing reforms now underway in the U.S. The study uses quasi-experimental methods to estimate the reform's effects on relationships among health and social service organizations, access to needed health and social services, healthcare utilization and costs, and equity in health outcomes.

The prolonged activation of stress response systems among children responding to adversity such as homelessness, hunger, or neglect, is a predictor of poor health and continued poverty among low-income families. To study the health and economic impacts and systems implications of integrated services provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Drexel University’s Center for Hunger-Free Communities, the principal investigators are evaluating the Building Wealth and Health Network (The Network) intervention, designed to reduce health inequities by aligning Medicaid coverage for behavioral health services and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) education and training services.

Lack of coordination of health and community services with individual agencies working in isolation leads to wasted resources and poor outcomes for the most vulnerable in our nation’s neighborhoods. One method of addressing this lack of coordination is by adopting a place-based system integration model where providers of services collaborate and work together to improve the health and well-being of the populations they serve.

Members of the homeless population bear greater risk than other populations for many preventable diseases but are less likely to access healthcare systems. These individuals need to be engaged by multiple systems to access services and support related not only to stable housing but also to reliable transportation, employment opportunities, and a healthy family environment. This one-year developmental study will evaluate the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s initiative, the Continuum of Care (CoC) system, which addresses homelessness through cross-sector collaboration.

Children affected by the opioid epidemic need a complex array of services and supports to safeguard their health and wellbeing, including child protective services, legal representation, educational services, comprehensive physical and mental health care, and often foster care placement coupled with family reunification strategies. Timely access to these services is especially difficult in rural areas. A research team led by Ohio State University will examine strategies that use regional, multi-sector governing boards to help organizations work together in coordinating services for children and families in rural areas.

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