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This chapter is a casebook of specific examples, drawn largely from interviews conducted with community researchers studying different aspects of children's health. The cases are intended to serve as a reference guide for those wanting to conduct collaborative community research.

This chapter begins with a brief description of the purpose of this book, which is to make explicit the implicit frameworks of researchers, community practitioners, parents or caregivers, and family advisors about models for creating sustained partnerships to improve knowledge about mental health services for children, adolescents, and their families. It then discusses the principles of collaboration, the science-to-practice gap, family/professional collaboration in child mental health services, and community-based services. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.

This chapter outlines key principles of collaboration that can guide efforts to involve consumers, family members, providers, administrators, and community members more fully in child mental health services research efforts. It then highlights opportunities for collaboration across the research process, from the development of guiding research questions, to study methods and procedures, to interpretation of study results and dissemination activities. Examples of the challenges that arise in collaborative efforts with youth and their families, providers, systems, and communities are discussed. Finally, a discussion of next steps for child mental health services research is offered.

This chapter describes some ways that families who care for children with mental, emotional, or behavioral problems; youth who are served by the children's mental health system; and researchers, have collaborated in research and evaluation. Topics covered include historical development of consumer involvement in mental health research; a system of care evaluation in Clark County, Washington; family involvement in systems of care, the youth-driven research project, and evaluator perspectives on collaboration with family members.

This chapter advances the development of successful partnerships between practitioners and researchers by (1) identifying the need for a two-way exchange of knowledge between practice and research; (2) highlighting the value of researcher-practitioner partnerships; (3) presenting an illustrative case study of one agency's successful work in this area; and (4) making recommendations for change.

This chapter reflects on how principles of collaboration can enliven, deepen, and validate scientific knowledge about children's mental health. In so doing, these principles also point to a future research agenda that links models of collaboration to the ethical endpoint of enhancing both the validity and usefulness of knowledge.

This chapter explores theoretical work and research on mothers' mental health and its impact on children. It examines the ways in which the mental health needs of mothers are conceptualised within health and social care. Mothering is simultaneously identified as a prime site of origin for women's mental health problems and a key determinant of children's mental health. While the successful exercise of parenting skills and the intimate relationships that mothers experience with their children can be a source of satisfaction and pride, in the context of mothers with mental health needs, research has tended to focus on adverse outcomes. Positive outcomes for parents with mental health problems and their children are rarely noted.