PURPOSE: The current study examines the effects of an inter-agency Learning Collaborative in increasing the engagement of youth and their families in child mental health services. A Learning Collaborative involves a network of providers with a common felt need to effect change in outcomes of interest, utilizing expert clinical and technical supports in addition to continuous quality improvement methods. Within the field of child mental health, there exists an alarming gap between high rates of child mental health need for low-income urban communities, and reports highlighting that most children with mental health difficulties do not receive needed services. Recent studies provide strong evidence that intensive engagement interventions implemented during initial contacts with youth and their families can boost service use substantially. Successful telephone and first interview engagement interventions involve active problem-solving to resolve barriers across multiple ecological levels. METHODS: In response to serious concerns about the ability to engage urban minority families in mental health care, 15 outpatient child mental health agencies within New York City partnered together, with the goals of (1) developing quality improvement capacity within agencies by organizing, training, and supporting quality improvement engagement enhancing projects; (2) training administrative, clinical, and supervisory staff in evidence-based engagement strategies; and (3) enhancing agency capacity to collect data on rates of attendance, track impact of improvements, and provide feedback. Key features of collaborative activities included provider training focused on evidence-based phone contact and initial interview engagement skills, evaluating the effects of new engagement procedures, and fostering providers' ability to form collaborative working relationships with adult caregivers and youth. Discussions and exercises assisted collaborative members to rethink misconceptions of barriers to involvement in services, perceptions of services and “helpers”, ethnicity and cultural issues, poverty, and community violence. RESULTS: Across all 15 agencies, performance indicators manifest a 15-point increase in the percentage of initial intake appointments kept, from 65% in October 2004 to 80% in January 2005. During the same period, a modest increase in the number of ongoing treatment appointments kept has also been observed. IMPLICATIONS: Results suggest that utilizing the collective strength of collaborative members towards implementing evidenced-based engagement strategies can be effective in increasing the level of engagement in child mental health services.