Welcome to the Project TEACH FAQ section. Below are most frequently asked questions and answers. Our goal is to be a strong resource for pediatric primary care providers in all aspects of mild-to-moderate mental health concerns for children, adolescents, and young adults. If you do not see your question here, please contact us.
Project TEACH services are delivered by a team of providers located across New York State. Please see our Hub Site Map to learn where our teams are located.
You can request Project TEACH services online here. You can also request services by calling 855-277-7272 and info@167.99.156.102
All pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) in New York State are eligible to receive Project TEACH services. This includes pediatricians, family physicians, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and other prescribers. Additionally, other mental health professionals who provide ongoing treatment to children, such as child and adolescent psychiatrists, general psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners, may request a second opinion through consultations.
Project TEACH is available at no cost to all New York State PCPs who treat children, adolescents, and young adults. This program is currently funded through the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH).
Any New York State PCP may call for a consultation with a Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrist, regardless of the type of insurance that the patient has.
PCPs can ask questions about any case involving children and adolescents up to age 21. Questions can be specific to a particular patient; diagnosis and treatment for a specific mental health disorder; use of a particular medication or other treatment strategy; or general questions about topics in child psychiatry and/or behavioral health. Project TEACH Liaison Coordinators can assist in identifying appropriate specialty referral resources and linkages for patients and families. Project TEACH does not provide crisis services or evaluations for emergencies, but can refer severe or urgent cases to appropriate emergency services.
If a Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrist is not available when you call, you will receive a call back within 4 hours. Project TEACH phone lines are staffed Monday through Friday. Hours vary in each region. Find more information about call times in the region where your county is located.
This information will be helpful to have when you call. However, please call even if you do not have this information on hand.
- Child’s date of birth, gender, school grade/year, insurance
- Support services in place, if any
- Primary concern
- Current treatment (including medications)
- Significant past medical history
No. Project TEACH currently only supports PCPs. Parents who are concerned about the mental health of their children should encourage their primary care providers to contact Project TEACH for a consultation. For more information on how parents can involve their PCP, please refer to our Parent and Family Member Education Card.
The following scenarios may result from a telephone consultation through Project TEACH.
- You may ask a question or present a case, and a Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrist will answer your questions.
- You and a Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrist may determine that a face-to-face evaluation is necessary for additional information to keep a child in your practice. Face-to-face evaluations are also available by telepsychiatry for patients who live more than one hour away from the closest Project TEACH site and/or do not have access to transportation.
- You may request a linkage/referral to accessible community resources by talking to a Project TEACH liaison coordinator.
- You may receive a referral from a Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrist for urgent care to an appropriate emergency and/or other community service.
Keep patients and families in your practice with all of the support that you need to address mild-to-moderate mental health concerns.
Yes! A primary function of Project TEACH is to help find appropriate and accessible community mental health referrals and linkages for patients and families. Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrists will also provide appropriate support when there are long wait times for community referrals.
Project TEACH child and adolescent psychiatrists provide a written summary within 48 hours following face-to-face evaluations. A written summary is not provided following phone consultations.
Project TEACH offers education in a variety of formats from CME accredited online videos to live core trainings that address the core topics of ADHD, aggression, anxiety, and depression, and multi-day intensive trainings. All trainings are free to New York State PCPs. See a list of educational opportunities here.
Please contact Project TEACH at: 855-277-7272, or online at info@167.99.156.102.
The Project TEACH Maternal Mental Health Initiative supports PCPs and maternal health providers in providing care to pregnant and postpartum women with free access to a consultation line with expert psychiatrists in maternal mental health, community-based linkages and referrals, and resources.
You can request a consultation with a Project TEACH expert psychiatrist in maternal mental health during consultation phone hours every Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m. and every Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. You can also submit a non-urgent questions by email, and receive a response from the same team of experts within 2 business days.