Intrastate Cross-Agency Networks: Collaboration Across State, County, and Local Agencies

The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, through its technical assistance provision to Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) grantees, promotes coordinated linkages between state and local education and mental health agencies. Building these intrastate cross-agency networks (ICANs) is an important strategy for supporting child and family initiatives. These networks consist of representatives from various government and/or community agencies within a particular state, at the local, county, and state levels. ICANs strengthen SS/HS grantees’ ability to sustain critical elements of their initiatives in order to enhance the education, health, and mental health of children, youth, and families.

In an effort to better understand how different states forge a successful ICAN, the National Center talked with representatives from states with a strong history of networking across local, county, and state systems. Center staff spoke with stakeholders in Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington about how they built and work within their ICANs. This brief provides project directors and others interested in building ICANs a summary of what the Center learned from these conversations.

Download a copy of Intrastate Cross-Agency Networks: Collaboration Across State, County, and Local Agencies.