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Congress set requirements for child welfare agencies to respond to emotional trauma associated with child maltreatment and removal. In meeting these requirements, agencies should develop policies that address child trauma. To assist in policy development, this study analyzes more than 14,000 clinical assessments from child welfare in Illinois. Based on the analysis, the study recommends child welfare agencies adopt policies requiring that (1) mental health screenings and assessments of all youth in child welfare include measures of traumatic events and trauma-related symptoms; (2) evidence-based, trauma-focused treatment begin when a youth in child welfare demonstrates a trauma-related symptom; and (3) a clinician not diagnose a youth in child welfare with a mental illness without first addressing the impact of trauma. The study also raises the issue of treatment reimbursement based on diagnosis.
Congress now requires that child welfare agencies address the issue of trauma when developing a plan for meeting the health and mental health needs of youth in foster care (Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, 2011). To accomplish this, child welfare agencies should update their policies and procedures.
For example, in 2002, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) issued a joint policy statement calling for the screening and assessment of all children in foster care for mental health and substance abuse issues:
These most vulnerable and traumatized of children need and deserve appropriate screening, comprehensive assessment and reassessments, effective mental health and use of alcohol and other drugs treatment services/supports provided by appropriately trained individuals, including the active involvement, when indicated, of a child and adolescent psychiatrist. We urge local, state and federal authorities to work together with the mental health, use of alcohol and other drugs and child welfare professions and other relevant child and family serving systems to assure that these children's mental health and use of alcohol and other drugs needs are met and that the children have the skills, capacities, and support necessary to thrive, (p. 5)
Consistent with this call to action, Health and Human Services' Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) includes children's mental health as a measure of well-being in its Child and Family Services Review (CFSR).
Researchers are documenting the importance of mental...