WILMINGTON – The Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program has expanded and updated its service offerings for participating pediatric primary care providers.

Over the summer, the Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program, known as DCPAP, added three new child psychiatrists to offer consultations to pediatric serving primary care providers. Saurabh Gupta, M.D., Narpinder Malhi, M.D., and Markian Pazuniak, M.D., have joined Mark Borer, M.D. in providing consultation, training and education, and resource and referral assistance for pediatric serving primary care providers and their practices. Additionally, beginning this fall, DCPAP is offering informal virtual “office hours” Wednesday afternoons and evenings so registered providers can ask a DCPAP child and adolescent psychiatrist questions.

“We know how important it is to meet our pediatric professionals where they are and answer the call for help when they need it. We are thrilled to have increased our bench of outstanding child psychiatrists for consultations and offer new services for pediatric professionals,” said Dr. Richard Margolis, DCPAP Project Director and Medical Director for the Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services. “DCPAP has already registered 247 pediatric serving primary care practitioners throughout the state – far exceeding our initial goal – and we are looking forward to connecting with more professionals as we continue the program.”

Implemented in 2019, the Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program is a beneficial resource for primary care providers serving young people with behavioral health needs. The goal of this program is to remove barriers to behavioral health care and provide quicker services to patients when they need it, as well as empower primary care practitioners. The program is funded by a federal grant and housed in the Delaware Children’s Department.

Pediatric primary care providers enrolled in DCPAP can request a consultation with a board-certified child psychiatrist or behavioral health resources to help them address their patients’ needs. These services aim to help expand providers’ skill and comfort in managing their patients’ behavioral health disorders in their office, as opposed to referring their patients to limited psychiatry services that may take months to access.

Providers interested in registering for the program can call the DCPAP “warm line” at 302-513-0929, email DSCYF_DCPAP@delaware.gov or go online here. Consultations often focus on questions about diagnosis, screenings, medications and treatment choices for behavioral health disorders. So far, 247 pediatric primary care practitioners have registered for the program. Pediatricians, family physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants caring for patients up to age 21 can register anytime. Enrolled providers will also have access to a newsletter, information and webinars.

DCPAP also offers various training and education opportunities for the pediatric primary care practitioners and their staff, as well as the general behavioral health community. These training sessions, accessed on a virtual platform and available for free Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, feature live sessions with a child psychiatrist on a variety of topics such as ADHD, early psychosis & childhood schizophrenia and anxiety. Also new this fall, these training sessions are available for viewing on a new Learning Management System, which also offers free Continuing Medical Education credits for the completion of each session. You can visit the DCPAP website for more information or sign up for the trainings via email at DSCYF_DCPAP@delaware.gov.

 DCPAP is funded through a five-year $2.225 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide pediatric primary care professionals with child psychiatry consultation and behavioral health training. For additional information, DCPAP is modeled after the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (McPAP) and receives consultation from the Massachusetts-based program. The McPAP program, in existence for 15 years, covers the entire state of Massachusetts and offers services to approximately 96 percent of the pediatric serving primary care practitioners in the state.

Media Contact: Jen Rini, jen.rini@delaware.gov

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