Mental illnesses often begin in childhood. Targeted psychosocial support services and early detection measures for mental illness in childhood enable early interventions to promote mental well-being and can reduce the manifestation of mental illness.

However, this requires a comprehensive understanding of preventive psychosocial services and their providers as well as the existing cooperation between actors in the psychosocial support landscape.

As part of the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the German Youth Institute e.V. and Ruhr University Bochum are therefore implementing the project "Mapping Educational and Psychosocial Services Across Sectors: Boosting Prevention and Early Intervention" (DZPG-Mapping).

The project aims to record the intersectoral, psychosocial support landscape for the early detection of mental illness and the promotion of mental health in children, adolescents and their families with the participation of all stakeholders in the field of mental health. As part of the project, the institutions, organizations and professionals involved in the psychosocial support landscape across different sectors (education, health, social services) as well as their services and network structures will be surveyed and analyzed.

The project serves as the basis for a set of instruments for monitoring the support landscape of primary and secondary preventive psychosocial care services for children, young people and their families and the associated intersectoral cooperation between professionals and institutions.