Building on growing interest in translational research, this paper provides an overview of a special issue of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Service Research, which is focused on the process of forging and sustaining partnerships to support child mental health prevention and services research. We propose that partnership-focused research is a subdiscipline of translational research which requires additional research to better refine the theoretical framework and the core principles that will guide future research and training efforts. We summarize some of the major themes across the eight original articles and three commentaries included in the special issue. By advancing the science of partnership-focused research we will be able to bridge the gap between child mental health prevention and services research and practice.