Project CLIMB provides integrated behavioral health services in three primary care clinics - Child Health Clinic, Young Mother’s Clinic, and Special Care Clinic - at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The services facilitate the early identification and treatment of mental health and behavioral issues within pediatric primary care settings and to increase access to mental health services in underserved populations.
Child Health Clinic
The Child Health Clinic is a pediatric residency training clinic providing more than 33,000 visits annually and serving a diverse patient population, including a significant proportion of families who speak Spanish and other languages. The behavioral health team is led by psychologists and comprised of a transdisciplinary team including psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, postdoctoral fellows, psychiatry fellows, psychology interns, pediatric residents, and staff from the primary care clinics. The team provides developmental interventions, screening and early identification services, consultations, psychosocial and behavioral group and individual interventions, diagnostic assessments, medication evaluations, recommendations for treatment of infants, children and adolescents seen in a primary care setting, and staff consultation and trainings. The HealthySteps program is implemented in Child Health Clinic, providing developmental, social-emotional, and behavioral health services to babies, young children, and their families in the first three years of life. In addition to direct services, training, and education efforts, our team engages in scholarship, research, advocacy, and policy initiatives. Clinical site supervisors: Drs. Melissa Buchholz, Kelly Glaze, Jessica Kenny, & Ayelet Talmi.
Young Moms Clinic
The Young Mothers Clinic (YMC) at Children’s Hospital Colorado serves adolescent mothers up to age 25 and their children. YMC provides comprehensive and multidisciplinary pediatric and well-woman care, including social work, family/health navigators, and integrated mental health services. The patient population is urban, low income, and racially diverse with high rates of trauma exposure and maternal mental health symptoms. The overarching goals of the program are to reduce repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers and improve educational and developmental outcomes for adolescent mothers and their children. The integrated behavioral health team is staffed by social workers, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and trainees from psychology and social work. Behavioral health services offered include staff consultation; medication evaluation and management; developmental, psychosocial and mental health assessment and interventions; and individual psychotherapy. (Clinical Site Supervisors: Drs. Bethany Ashby and Amy Ehmer)
The Special Care Clinic
The Special Care Clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado is a comprehensive and integrated program that offers both primary care and consultation services to children with chronic medical conditions and special health care needs. This clinic specializes in treating children with special health care needs, including children with genetic disorders, developmental disabilities, complex chronic medical conditions and high-risk newborns. We also care for the healthy siblings of children with special needs. We offer consultation services for children who live at a distance from Denver. The Special Care Clinic also performs assessment and management strategies for community care providers. (Clinical Site Supervisor: Dr. Verenea Serrano)
