 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Ruth Brousseau, PhD and Katherine Walker. The California Wellness Foundation, One Kearney Street, 9th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415-217-3700, rbrousse@cwf.tcwf.org
Many transition age youth, especially those emancipating from foster care, face significant mental health barriers to establishing independent, productive, and happy lives as young adults. Many of these young people experienced trauma that resulted in their original placement in out of home care and this "care" sometimes compounds the original trauma. Although many have had experience with mental health treatment, it has not always been a positive experience. Despite high levels of depression, anxiety, and other psychological states resulting from trauma, youth who have left foster care face significant barriers to gaining access to high quality mental health treatment.
The California Wellness Foundation makes grants to improve access to mental health treatment for transition age youth. This paper will describe barriers to treatment for emancipated foster youth and discuss lessons that the Foundation is learning about strategies for increasing access that include: · Supporting peer networks, · Integrating mental health with other services, · Expanding the definition of what constitutes a mental health intervention, · Supporting mental health clinics and providers with expertise with foster youth, and · Policy advocacy.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mental Health, Youth Access
Related Web page: www.tcwf.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The California WEllness Foundation, a philanthropic organization
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.