A Case Study for Social Marketing: Key Strategies for Transforming the Children’s Mental Health System in the United States

It is only recently that health providers, policy makers, researchers, and the public have begun to focus on the importance of the mental health needs of children, youth, and young adults. There is a growing understanding that children’s mental health issues must be addressed early to improve behavioral health outcomes for children and decrease or prevent problems later in life for the child, his or her family, and the community as a whole. The Caring for Every Child’s Mental Health Campaign (Campaign) is a social marketing program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that improves the nation’s behavioral health, with a mission of reducing the impact of substance abuse and mental illness in communities across the country. The Campaign’s goals are to increase awareness of children’s mental health issues and promote the development, expansion, and sustainability of innovative approaches to delivering community mental health services for children and youth with mental disorders. The Campaign addresses these goals by providing social marketing training and technical assistance to federally funded grantees in local communities. The Campaign and the grantees are funded through SAMHSA’s Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program. The purpose of this article is to inform professionals in the field of social marketing about how a program at the national level provides support to local, state, tribal, and territorial grantees to facilitate grassroots systems change using a social marketing approach