TY - JOUR
T1 - Youths living away from families in the US mental health system
T2 - Opportunities for targeted intervention
AU - Pottick, Kathleen J.
AU - Warner, Lynn A.
AU - Yoder, Kevin A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The challenge of providing appropriate mental health care to youths with emotional disorders is exacerbated when youths live away from their biological parents or legal guardians. Several factors complicate the delivery of care to youths living away from families. First, the reasons for living away from home are complex. Youths who have experienced abuse or neglect within their families, or have families who are otherwise unable to provide appropriate care, might reside in foster care homes that are operated by child welfare departments. Moreover, some of these youths may spend time on A previous version of this article was presented at the 16th Annual Research Conference of the Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health, University of South Florida, A System of Caref or Children's Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base, Tampa, Fla, March 2003. Address correspondence to Kathleen J. Pottick, MSW, PhD, professor, School of Social Work and Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers University, 30 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. E-mail: kpottick @ifh.rutgers.edu. Lynn A. Warner, MSW, PhD, is an associate professor at School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, The State University of New York. Kevin A. Yoder, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, University of North Texas, Denton, Tex. This study was supported in part by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation (201.0034) and by a postdoctoral training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH16242) at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. The authors thank Ronald W. Manderscheid, Marilyn J. Henderson, and Laura Milazzo-Sayre for technical support and use of the data.
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - This study examines the clinical characteristics of youths who lived away from families at the time of admission to specialty mental health services, and investigates the association between type of nonfamily living situation and admission to residential versus outpatient programs. Of 3995 youths sampled from 1598 mental health programs in the United States, 14% lived away from their own families, either in foster care, group care settings, or correctional settings, or were emancipated. As a group, youths living away from families were more seriously emotionally disturbed and more likely to receive treatment in residential care programs. Youths who lived in foster care were more likely to be admitted to outpatient programs, while youths who lived in group care settings or correctional settings were more likely to be admitted to residential care programs, controlling on demographic and clinical characteristics. Targeting resources to enhance the availability and therapeutic capacity of foster care may facilitate community living, and decrease time spent in institutional settings.
AB - This study examines the clinical characteristics of youths who lived away from families at the time of admission to specialty mental health services, and investigates the association between type of nonfamily living situation and admission to residential versus outpatient programs. Of 3995 youths sampled from 1598 mental health programs in the United States, 14% lived away from their own families, either in foster care, group care settings, or correctional settings, or were emancipated. As a group, youths living away from families were more seriously emotionally disturbed and more likely to receive treatment in residential care programs. Youths who lived in foster care were more likely to be admitted to outpatient programs, while youths who lived in group care settings or correctional settings were more likely to be admitted to residential care programs, controlling on demographic and clinical characteristics. Targeting resources to enhance the availability and therapeutic capacity of foster care may facilitate community living, and decrease time spent in institutional settings.
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U2 - 10.1007/BF02291827
DO - 10.1007/BF02291827
M3 - Article
C2 - 16010183
AN - SCOPUS:22244476684
SN - 1094-3412
VL - 32
SP - 264
EP - 281
JO - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
JF - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
IS - 3
ER -