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Treating Mental Health Disorders for Children in Child Welfare Care: Evaluating the Outcome Literature

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Abstract

Background

Children involved in the child welfare system (CWS) have a greater need for mental health treatment relative to children in the general population. However, the research on mental health treatment for children in the CWS is sparse with only one known previous review of mental health services with children in the CWS.

Objective

This review reports on an evaluation of the literature examining mental health interventions for children within the CWS.

Methods

The Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) process was used as the basis of the evaluation.

Results

The results reflect that, while the overall quality of research in this area is low and findings are, at times, inconsistent, detailed, manualized interventions using multiple treatment components that focus on family, child, and school factors showed the most promise in regards to child mental health outcomes and placement stability. These interventions not only report the best quality outcomes for children and families, but they were also most highly recommended within the GRADE analysis.

Conclusions

These findings emphasize the importance of comprehensive intervention efforts that involve the family and community, as well as the child. The inconsistent positive outcomes may be partially explained by the lack of trauma-informed practices incorporated into treatment for these often traumatized children. Recommendations for research in regards to mental health interventions for children in the CWS are discussed.

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Notes

  1. The authors have declared no conflict of interest in relation to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child and Parent Resource Institute, Western University, London, Canada

    Shannon L. Stewart

  2. Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario, 1137 Western Road, London, ON, N6G 1G7, Canada

    Alan Leschied

  3. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

    Wendy den Dunnen

  4. Calgary Clinic, Calgary, Canada

    Sharla Zalmanowitz

  5. Child and Parent Resource Institute, London, Canada

    Philip Baiden

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  1. Shannon L. Stewart
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  2. Alan Leschied
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  3. Wendy den Dunnen
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  4. Sharla Zalmanowitz
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Correspondence to Alan Leschied.

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This manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by any other journal. This review was prepared with funding support from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services Strategic Research Fund, Toronto, Ontario. The full report: Planning, Access, and Use of Mental Health Services for Youth in Care: Review of Research Literature can be accessed through the first author.

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Stewart, S.L., Leschied, A., den Dunnen, W. et al. Treating Mental Health Disorders for Children in Child Welfare Care: Evaluating the Outcome Literature. Child Youth Care Forum 42, 131–154 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-012-9192-8

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