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The overarching goal of Dr. Brookman-Frazee’s community-partnered research is to improve the effectiveness of community services for children with mental health and developmental needs.

In the area of autism implementation research, one of her major contributions has been to develop and test the “AIM HI” intervention for delivery in publicly-funded mental health services. Dr. Brookman-Frazee and her team completed a randomized community effectiveness trial in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties demonstrating the positive impacts of training community therapists to deliver AIM HI on therapist practice and child and family outcomes. In a subsequent trial conducted throughout California, Dr. Brookman-Frazee’s team tested the effectiveness of multiple implementation strategies paired with AIM HI on community therapist fidelity of AIM HI delivery and subsequent child outcomes. Additionally, she led a linked study testing a cultural enhancement to AIM HI for Latino/a/x families.

A second major research area is focused on studying system-driven implementation of multiple evidence-based interventions for common childhood mental health problems in community mental health services. In a large, observational study, Dr. Brookman-Frazee and her colleagues examined system, organization, and provider level factors that influenced sustained delivery of interventions through the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. In a subsequent study, Dr. Brookman-Frazee and her colleagues are developing pragmatic measures for assessing community therapist delivery strategies common in evidence-based interventions for common children’s mental health targets (Trauma, Behaviors, Anxiety, Depression).