Advances in many areas of research, such as brain development, are showing that young children, including infants, can experience significant mental health problems. These studies confirm that the developmental journey towards positive mental health begins early, founded upon the first years of life. Studies have also found that children whose families experience stressors, such as parents with serious mental illness, families experiencing violence, families with histories of abuse and neglect, have the best outcomes when interventions focus on the entire family and not just the child.
This bulletin is intended to help child welfare professionals and others who work with transitioning youth to understand the Federal legislative requirements for transition plans and partner with youth to develop a plan over time and through close youth engagement that builds on their strengths while supporting their needs.
A system of care is a coordinated network of community-based services and supports designed to meet the challenges of children and youth with serious mental health needs and their families.
Systems of Care Parents of children and youth who need mental health supports are often expected to communicate with more than one service system. These services might be related to juvenile justice, children and family services, special education, mental health, and developmental disabilities. When these services are not coordinated well, parents are left on their […]
