A System of Care for Children's Mental Health

Over the course of the past 50 years a significant evolution of the children's mental health system occurred. Through this process, a system of care for children's mental health that is more community based as well as comprehensive in its approach developed. In addition, a more long-term approach to maintaining recovery from mental health problems and issues was created.

Dual Diagnosis

• A primary consideration in developing a system of care for children's mental health is the reality that many children have more than one pertinent diagnosis. Writing in "Mental Health Information for Teens: Health Tips About Mental Wellness and Mental Illness," Karen Bellenir note that a majority of teens and even younger children face what is known as a dual diagnosis. In other words, children commonly are diagnosed with a mental illness as well as substance abuse or addiction.

  A system of care for children's overall mental health must address a direct mental health issue as well substance abuse and addiction for recovery to be possible. Mental illness and substance abuse or addiction feed into and off of one another. For example, a child will self-medicate a mental health condition through the use of a mind-altering substance. The mind-altering substance in turn aggravates the symptoms of a mental illness.

Least Restrictive Environment

• Over the course of the past two decades the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and other organizations recognized the importance of the concept of "least restrictive environment." In the course of treating children for mental illness, every effort should be made to place a child in the least restrictive environment for that professional assistance.

  Up until the mid-1970s children with mental health issues commonly were placed in residential facilities for months or even years. By the 1980s, this practice largely was abandoned and ultimately replaced with the practice of using the least restrictive environment protocol.

  The theory of the least restrictive environment for treating children with mental health issues is that they have the best change for recovery when they have appropriate support from healthy people in their lives. (Of course, not all children do have relationships with healthy adults. Therefore, there are instances in which a child needs to be placed in a more restrictive facility for treatment.)

After Care Programs

• A crucial element of any system of care for children's mental health is structured after care programming. Even when a course of mental health treatment proves initially successful, the restoration of health oftentimes is undone in the absence of supportive and therapeutic after-care programs.

  After-care programs in an overall children's mental health system include everything from individual counseling or therapy to peer support groups and programs. A combination of different approaches to after-care--individual and group therapy, for example)--often best serve the long term needs of a child.