CMHI 1.0 was very successful in significantly improving the level of systems integration in all four communities over the first six years of the project. Survey instruments sent to each service provider in the community provided ratings of all other providers in terms of their level of integration and partnership. Integration of human resources, funding, overall impact, 
and communication were assessed. The scale rated collaboration elements on a scale from one (informal relations) to five (full integration). All four communities achieved statistically significant improvement in their systems integration.

CMHI 1.0 systems have been sustained, even as grant funding gradually decreased. 
From the onset of CMHI 1.0, ILCHF was concerned with sustaining enhanced mental health services and overall integrated systems of care beyond the grant period. All four communities utilized grant funds to pilot and implement the integration of mental health screening and services into both medical and school settings. These mental health services are now sustained through an array of funding mechanisms and strategies.

Mental health screening in schools and primary care practices are routine in all four CMHI communities. CMHI communities succeeded in dramatically increasing the rates of children being screened for developmental and mental health concerns. In 2010, at the start of the project, fewer than six percent of children were screened. By 2016, nearly half of all children in the communities were screened. In 2017, the Quincy Public Schools began screening all children during school registration. In 2018, Springfield public schools began screening all children in selected grades. For the CMHI communities, mental health screening is now routine for families and is part of the expected experience in medical care and school settings.

CMHI incorporated a complex evaluation—including a cross-site evaluation and four local evaluations—producing varied but useful results. Systems integration data gathering produced useful results. The longitudinal cohort study encountered significant challenges in connection with enrolling and retaining children in the study, as well as difficulties in gathering data. These challenges have significantly informed the evaluation plan for CMHI 2.0.

Policy and advocacy capacity building was successful. ILCHF funded a collaboration between the CMHI 1.0 communities and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law (Shriver Center). Shriver Center provided CMHI communities with technical assistance on policy advocacy, including the skills to navigate the Medicaid reimbursement system. The communities and Shriver Center worked together to devise education, legal advocacy, and problem-solving mechanisms that resulted in a significant strengthening of the children’s mental health system overall. The successes were primarily in the areas of insuring Medicaid reimbursement during the state budget impasse; expanding the available array of mental health services and increasing reimbursement rates; problem-solving around Medicaid coverage lapses for clients; and Medicaid plan changes.