Abstract
The child welfare system helps children experiencing abuse, neglect, and other problems experience safe and permanent living environments. Children who enter this system often present co-occurring emotional/behavioral disorders, as well as compromised learning, often associated with the experience of trauma. There are several barriers and challenges to addressing these concerns in these students, including a lack of collaboration between schools, families, service providers, and other community organizations. Increasing school and community support is vital to promoting psychosocial adjustment and placement stability for these children, especially when they are in out-of-home placements. There is also a strong connection between being involved in the child welfare system, and entering the juvenile justice system, emphasizing the critical role of cross-system collaboration and planning in developing, improving, and expanding programs to assist these youth. School behavioral health programs can provide the context and support to implement the system-wide, trauma-informed approach that will benefit children involved in, or at risk for involvement in the child welfare system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aarons, G. A., Sommerfeld, D. H., & Willging, C. E. (2011). The soft underbelly of system change: The role of leadership and organizational climate in turnover during statewide behavioral health reform. Psychological Services, 8(4), 269–281.
Abrahams, N., Casey, K., & Daro, D. (1992). Teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about child abuse and its prevention. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16(2), 229–238.
Altshuler, S. J. (2003). From barriers to successful collaboration: Public schools and child welfare working together. Social Work, 48(1), 52–63.
Anderson, H. D. (2011). Suicide ideation, depressive symptoms, and out-of-home placement among youth in the U.S. child welfare system. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40(6), 790–796.
Anderson-Butcher, D., & Asher, D. (2004). Innovative models of collaboration to serve children, youths, families, and communities. Children & Schools, 26(1), 39–53.
Austin, L. (2004). Mental health needs of youth in foster care: Challenges and strategies. The Connection, 20(4), 6–13.
Brandtzaeg, B. P., Folstad, A., & Mainsah, H. (2012). Designing for youth civic engagement in social media (Full paper). Lisbon, Portugal: IADIS International Conferences Web Based Communities and Social Media.
Breslau, J., Lane, M., Sampson, N., & Kessler, R. C. (2008). Mental disorders and subsequent educational attainment in a US national sample. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 42(9), 708–716.
Burns, J. B., Philips, D. S., Wagner, R. H., Barth, P. R., Kolko, J. D., Campbell, Y., et al. (2004). Mental health need and access to mental health services by youths involved with child welfare: A national survey. Child Adolescents Psychiatry, 43(8), 960–970.
Conn, A., Szilagyi, M. A., Jee, S. H., Blimkin, A. K., & Szilagyi, P. G. (2015). Mental health outcomes among child welfare investigated children: In-home versus out-of-home care. Children and Youth Services Review, 57(1), 106–111.
Donisch, K., Bray, C., & Gewirtz, A. (2015). Child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, and education providers’ conceptualizations of trauma-informed practice. Child Maltreatment, 21(2), 125–134.
Fabelo, T., Thompson, M. D., Plotkin, M., Carmichael, D., Marchbanks, M. P., & Booth, E. A. (2011). Breaking schools’ rules: A statewide study of how school discipline relates to students’ success and juvenile justice involvement. New York: Council of State Governments Justice Center. https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Breaking_Schools_Rules_Report_Final.pdf
Farmer, E. M. Z., Burns, B. J., Chapman, M. V., Phillips, S. D., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2001). Use of mental health services by youth in contact with social services. Social Service Review, 75(4), 605–624.
Garcia, A. R., Circo, E., DeNard, C., & Hernandez, N. (2015). Barriers and facilitators to delivering effective mental health practice strategies for youth and families served by the child welfare system. Children and Youth Services Review, 52(1), 110–122.
Giaconia, R. M., Reinherz, H. Z., Silverman, A. B., Pakiz, B., Frost, A. K., & Cohen, E. (1995). Traumas and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community population of older adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(10), 1369–1380.
Harper, K. & Temkin, D. (2019). Responding to trauma through policies to create supportive learning environments [Issue brief]. Child Trends. https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/RespondingTraumaPolicyGuidance_ChildTrends_January2019.pdf
He, A. S. (2017). Interagency collaboration and receipt of substance abuse treatment services for child welfare-involved caregivers. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 79(1), 20–28.
He, A. S., Lim, C. S., Lecklitner, G., Olson, A., & Traube, D. E. (2015). Interagency collaboration and identifying mental health needs in child welfare: Findings from Los Angeles County. Children and Youth Services Review, 53(1), 39–43.
Herlihy, M. (2016). Conceptualising and facilitating success in interagency collaborations: Implications for practice from the literature. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 26(1), 117–124.
Ireland, T. O., Smith, C. A., & Thornberry, T. P. (2002). Developmental issues in the impact of child maltreatment on later delinquency and drug use. Criminology, 40(2), 359–399.
Jones, A. S. & Wells, S. J. (2008). PATH/Wisconsin-Bremer Project: Preventing placement disruptions in foster care. https://cascw.umn.edu/portfolio-items/path-bremer-placement-disruption-pub/
HIPAA Journal. (2017). HIPAA release form. https://www.hipaajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/HIPAA-Journal-sample-HIPAA-release-form-v1.pdf
Kerns, E. U. S., Pullmann, D. M., Putnam, B., Buher, A., Holland, S., Berliner, L., et al. (2014). Child welfare and mental health: Facilitators of barriers to connecting children and youths in out-of-home care with effective mental health treatment. Children and Youth Services, 46(1), 315–324.
Landsverk, J., Garland, A. F., & Leslie, L. K. (2002). Mental health services for children reported to child protective services. In J. E. B. Myers, C. T. Hendrix, L. Berliner, C. Jenny, J. Briere, & T. Reid (Eds.), APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (2nd ed., pp. 487–507). Los Angeles: Sage Publishing.
Lee, S., Benson, S. M., Klein, S. M., & Franke, T. M. (2015). Accessing quality care and education for children in child welfare: Stakeholders’ perspectives on barriers and opportunities for interagency collaboration. Children and Youth Services Review, 55(1), 170–181.
Morton, B. M. (2018). The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth. Child Abuse and Neglect, 75(1), 73–81.
Mundy, C. L., Neufeld, A. N., & Wells, S. J. (2016). A culturally relevant measure of client satisfaction in child welfare services. Children and Youth Services Review, 70(1), 177–189.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee. (2008). Child trauma toolkit for educators. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Newton, R. R., Litrownik, A. J., & Landsverk, J. A. (2000). Children and youth in foster care: Disentangling the relationship between problem behaviors and number of placements. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(10), 1363–1374.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2019, October 31). Juvenile arrest rate trends. https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp
Office of the Administration of Children and Families. (2017, July 14). Child welfare outcomes 2010–2014: Report to congress. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/cwo-10-14
Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. (2000, June 1). Report to the congress on kinship foster care. https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/report-congress-kinship-foster-care
Pecora, J. P., Whittaker, K. J., Maluccio, N. A., Barth, P. R., & Plotnick, D. R. (2017). Second edition: The child welfare challenge: Policy, practice and research. London\New York: Routledge\Taylor and Francis Group.
Pecora, P. J., Kessler, R. C., Williams, J., O’Brien, K., Downs, A. C., English, D., et al. (2005). Improving family foster care: Findings from the Northwest foster care alumni study. Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.
Powell, D. R., Son, S.-H., File, N., & Froiland, J. M. (2012). Changes in parent involvement across the transition from public school prekindergarten to first grade and children’s academic outcomes. The Elementary School Journal, 113(2), 276–300.
Rubin, D. M., O’Reilly, A. L., Luan, X., & Localio, A. R. (2007). The impact of placement stability on behavioral Well-being for children in foster care. Pediatrics, 119(2), 336–344.
Ryan, J. P., Marshall, J. M., Herz, D., & Hernandez, P. M. (2008). Juvenile delinquency in child welfare: Investigating group home effects. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(9), 1088–1099.
Stoltzfus, E. (2017). Child welfare: An overview of future programs and their current funding. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43458.pdf
Swanson, T. (2002). Cycles of support. American Libraries, 33(5), 44–46.
Taussig, H. N. (2002). Risk behaviors in maltreated youth placed in foster care: A longitudinal study of protective and vulnerability factors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26(11), 1179–1199.
Turner, W., Hester, M., Broad, J., Szilassy, E., Feder, G., Drinkwater, J., et al. (2017). Interventions to improve the response of professionals to children exposed to domestic violence and abuse: A systematic review. Child Abuse Review, 26(1), 19–29.
U. S. Government Accountability Office. (2011). Foster children: HHS guidance could help states improve oversight of psychotropic prescriptions [Reissued on December 15, 2011]. Www.Gao.Gov, (GAO-12-201). https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-201
van der Geest, V. R., Bijleveld, C. C. J. H., Blokland, A. A., & Nagin, D. S. (2016). The effects of incarceration on longitudinal trajectories of employment: A follow-up in high-risk youth from ages 23 to 32. Crime & Delinquency, 62(1), 107–140.
Van Wert, M., Mishna, F., & Malti, T. (2016). A conceptual model of the relationship between maltreatment and externalizing, antisocial, and criminal behavior problems, and the intervening role of child welfare service delivery. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 29(1), 10–19.
Vincent, G. M., Grisso, T., Terry, A., & Banks, S. M. (2008). Sex and race differences in mental health symptoms in juvenile justice: The MAYSI-2 national meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(3), 282–290.
Vulin-Reynolds, M., Lever, N., Stephan, S., & Ghunney, A. (2008). School mental health and foster care: A logical partnership. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 1(2), 29–40.
Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of practices: A brief introduction. National Science Foundation (U.S.). https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/11736
Wolpow, R., Johnson, M. M., Hertel, R., & Kincaid, S. (2009). Washington (State). In The heart of learning and teaching: compassion, resiliency, and academic success. Superintendent of Public Instruction, & Washington State Library. Electronic State Publications.
Yoo, J., Brooks, D., & Patti, R. (2007). Organizational constructs as predictors of effectiveness in child welfare interventions. Child Welfare, 86(1), 53–78.
Zlotnick, C., Tam, T. W., & Soman, L. A. (2012). Life course outcomes on mental and physical health: The impact of foster care on adulthood. American Journal of Public Health, 102(3), 534–540.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Martinez, S., Kenworthy, T., Blair, S.C., Fletcher, L., Xu, Y., Stevens, R.N. (2020). Addressing the Unique Needs of Children and Families Within the Child Welfare System. In: Weist, M.D., Franke, K.B., Stevens, R.N. (eds) School Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56112-3_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56112-3_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-56111-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56112-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)