Last fall, a 15-year-old foster child took his own life in Kansas. According to local news reports, the boy's foster family “sought help as soon as they found him, but emergency personnel were unable to save him.”
The Kansas City Beacon reported that the agency that oversaw the facility, KVC Kansas, did not meet state guidelines for providing mental health treatment to children in need under its supervision. The agency was closer than many others operating in Kansas, but the mental health needs of foster youth are so great that many states struggle with the issue, according to the Beacon. This can sometimes lead to tragic consequences.
A new study from the Family Institute sheds light on what's going on. According to the report “Family Matters for Children's Mental Health'' by Nicholas Gill, approximately 8 million children in the United States require psychiatric treatment each year, and 82% of them receive treatment. Children in foster care need even more treatment, she said. .
Jill points out that the need for treatment varies greatly depending on the family structure.
“Children living with both married birth parents were the least likely to need or receive counseling.” Only about 14% needed counseling and received counseling. was 12%. Children living with single mothers needed more mental health support. But the worst-affected children and adolescents were those living apart from their parents. Among people living with relatives other than grandparents or in foster care, 37% are receiving care, and a further 7% need care.
What is going on in these children's lives? The benefits of living with two biological parents have been documented many times. But what exactly causes mental health problems when such conditions are not available? When parents separate, the stress and anxiety children feel inevitably increases. But, as Jill points out, “most people can adapt and do reasonably well.” But for other children, there may be “long-term maladjustment,” Gill suggests.
This manifests itself not only in dropping out of school and unemployment, but also in criminal activity, drug abuse, premature sexual involvement and parenthood. Of course, the abuse and neglect that children experience before entering foster care is the primary trauma that may be producing these outcomes. Children who do not know whether their parents will care for them, leave them unsupervised for long periods of time, or physically or sexually abuse them may struggle to find the relationships they need for stable adulthood. I don't know how to build it.
And children's homes cannot solve much of this problem. This is especially true if children have been placed in abusive or neglectful homes for long periods of time, or if they have been placed in foster care and then moved from home to home. Mental health treatment is an important part of the equation. However, there is a significant shortage of providers in this country. Even middle-class and affluent parents just want their teens to see a therapist, but often the providers don't take insurance or the waiting list for an appointment is miles long. . For foster children receiving Medicaid, it can be even more difficult. It can also be difficult to maintain the same provider while going to different nursing homes. Some foster parents have told me that they pay out of pocket to ensure that the children in their homes receive mental health treatment.
Too often, foster children's behavioral problems (like any other child's problems) are quickly treated with medication. Not only is treatment more expensive and difficult to arrange, but unlike children who live with their biological families, foster children may not have adults to put up with difficult behaviors to reduce their medication intake.
The type of mental health treatment they receive is also important. Unfortunately, because there are those who want to exploit the child welfare system to further their political agenda, many foster children with issues such as anxiety, depression, and even bipolar disorder are left with gender dysphoria instead of gender dysphoria. I am receiving treatment. It's not uncommon to hear child welfare experts say that too many transgender youth are placed in foster care. The implication is that parents are rejecting transgender youth in part because of their gender identity. But these children are often children with other serious mental illnesses, and states allow doctors to treat them with drugs or even surgery rather than treating them first. I am. In some states, potential foster parents who do not support this type of treatment are prevented from caring for these children at all.
The youth mental health crisis is now widely recognized, especially since the pandemic. However, it is dangerous to throw all the children's problems into her one bucket. For some children, symptoms may be made worse due to their home environment or family structure.
Naomi Shafer Riley is He is a contributor to the American Enterprise Institute, Deseret News, andThere's no cure for children: How foster care, family courts, and racial activists are ruining young lives.He has written books such as '
