45.2 North Carolina Psychiatry Access Line: Supporting Pediatric Prescribers Caring for Children in Foster Care

The North Carolina Psychiatry Access Line (NC-PAL) is a statewide telephone consultation program for pediatric behavioral health that launched in 2018. Since that time, the program has provided consultation to more than 700 primary care providers (PCPs) and trained more than 150 PCPs. To provide consultation to support providers caring for children in foster care, the NC-PAL program in partnership with the North Carolina State Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) is deploying 4 interventions: 1) child and adolescent psychiatry input on a daily basis for high-needs cases; 2) child and adolescent psychiatry consultation to clinicians and Department of Social Services (DSS) staff members caring for children in foster care; 3) education of clinicians and DSS staff members caring for children in foster care; and 4) review of Medicaid and DSS data to target interventions.