 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Richard Barth, PhD, Frank A. Daniels School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 301 Pittsboro, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550, 919-962-6516, rbarth@imap.unc.edu, John A. Landsverk, PhD, Child & Adolescent Services Research Center, 3020 Children's Way MC5033, San Diego, CA 92123, Mary Bruce Webb, PhD, Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation, OPRE, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20447, and Barbara J. Burns, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3454, Durham, NC 27710-3454.
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being is the first national probability study of children (n = 5504) assessed following child abuse and neglect reports. Standardized mental health and developmental measures where gathered about and from children, whether child welfare services (CWS) cases were closed, served at home, or in foster care. We provide population estimates of the mental health needs of children and their parents/caregivers and assesses the relationship between those needs and the use of mental health services. Nearly half of children who had CWS investigations had clinically significant emotional or behavioral problems. Children with mental health needs were more likely to receive mental health services than lower-scoring youth; still, only one-fourth of youth in need received any specialty mental health care during a one-year period. African American and White Non-Hispanic children with mental health needs were equally likely to receive specialty mental health services, although White non-Hispanic children received far more services when they had sub-clinical scores. For young children, sexual abuse (versus neglect) was linked to receipt of mental health care. For latency-age youth and adolescents, residing at home significantly reduced the likelihood of mental health care. For the older group, having a parent with severe mental illness increased the odds of service use by 2.4 times. We will also provide findings about state and local county level variation in policies, procedures, and organizational linkages relevant to the provision of mental health services to children involved with CWS, and implications for service design and implementation.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Adult and Child Mental Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.