Child Welfare Recommendations to Improve Mental Health Services for Children who have Experienced Abuse and Neglect: A National Perspective

This study uses a key informant approach to understand the nature, extent, and quality of outpatient mental health services for children in the child welfare system (CWS) in the United States. We interviewed 89 county child welfare administrators to determine the status of outpatient mental health services and provide recommendations for enhancing care and service delivery. Developed for this study (Caring for Children in Child Welfare), the interview was incorporated in the second formal data collection wave (i.e., 18 months after study baseline assessment) of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. The results highlighted general variability in the degree to which these agencies used evidence-based interventions within outpatient services, demonstrated clinical expertise with this population, and met the needs of their families. Community agency use of evidence-based interventions was found to predict their effectiveness in improving clients’ mental health problems. Proposed suggestions for service improvement varied across domains and reflected the need for more communication/coordination, service access, options and resources, and practice refinements to accommodate families’ needs. We discuss the implications of these recommendations from CWS stakeholders for enhancing the service delivery system. We appreciate the assistance and consultation of Jennifer Rolls-Reutz, Barbara J. Burns, Barbara L. Baumann, Michael Hurlburt, and John Landsverk.