Creating connections from clinic to the community and beyond: Integrating community health workers into pediatric behavioral health care

Lack of access to transportation, housing, or food can significantly impact engagement in pediatric mental health services. Addressing these social determinants is foundational to pediatric mental health care (Nelson et al., 2025). Community health workers (CHWs) are professionals who are trusted members of the communities they serve, bringing lived experience and strong relationships, supported by training, to aid health care navigation. They can be essential members of the pediatric health care team and improve outcomes. In this article, we will introduce how social drivers of health impact care, the role of CHWs, how CHWs can improve access to mental healthcare for pediatric patients, identify strategies to effectively incorporate CHWs into treatment teams to augment and extend the delivery of mental health treatment, and finally discuss barriers and opportunities that may arise.