Measurement of interagency collaboration in behavioral health for children, youth and families: a narrative review of the literature

Service fragmentation and silos are long cited concerns in mental health service provision, particularly for children and families, as a result of separate agencies serving overlapping populations with multiple needs. Interagency collaboration is frequently cited in behavioral services research as an important factor of effective and evidence-based service delivery. Despite its recognized importance and substantial research highlighting it, there is still no consensus on how to measure interagency collaboration. Based on existing literature, this review defines interagency collaboration as “a process of efforts across community-based organizations, state, and federal agencies that fosters coordination, such as sharing resources, staff, or rewards to reduce behavioral health service fragmentation.” A total of 14 articles were identified through a literature search and categorized into three categories: questionnaires, mixed methods, and secondary data analysis. This narrative review aimed to describe and discuss the current state of the literature related to the measurement of interagency collaboration in the context of behavior health and offer recommendations for future research and practice. Five main findings emerged: (1) lack of consistency in defining and naming the concept of interagency collaboration, (2) variation in the measurement methods used, (3) variation of study purposes, (4) inconsistent reliability and validity reporting, and (5) lack of transparency.