Interagency Coordination to Manage Co-Occurring Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions

The authors aimed to identify barriers to and strategies for supporting coordination between state agencies for intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) or mental health to meet the mental health needs of people with co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions.

Forty-nine employees of state agencies as well as advocacy and service delivery organizations across 11 U.S. states with separate IDD and mental health agencies were interviewed between April 2022 and April 2023. Data were analyzed with a thematic analysis approach.

Interviewees reported that relationships between the IDD and mental health agencies have elements of both competition and coordination and that coordination primarily takes place in response to crisis events. Barriers to interagency coordination included a narrow focus on the populations targeted by each agency, within-state variation in agency structures, and a lack of knowledge about co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions. Interviewees also described both administrative (e.g., memorandums of understanding) and agency culture (e.g., focusing on whole-person care) strategies that are or could be used to improve coordination to provide mental health services for people with both IDD and a mental health condition.

Strategies that support state agencies in moving away from crisis response toward a focus on whole-person care should be prioritized to support coordination of mental health services for individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental health conditions.