Child Welfare Initiative

Children served by the child welfare system are more likely to need developmental, mental health, medical, and educational services than many other children. Their families also often require services from multiple programs. With funding from the federal Administration for Children and Families, the National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health has had the opportunity to address child welfare issues, to link with other organizations, to strengthen mental health services for children and families, and to promote stronger partnerships with families in the child welfare system.

The Initiative's Goal within the National TA Center

By sharing knowledge, collaborating across systems, and partnering with families, the National Technial Assistance Center's Child Welfare Initiative strives to increase the capacity of states and communities to offer effective mental health services for children and families served by the child welfare system.

The Initiative's Roles within the National TA Center

Within the National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health, the Child Welfare Initiative

• Consults with and learns from local, state and national leaders in mental health and child welfare systems, including family members;
• Tracks important issues and concerns of both systems;
• Creates opportunities for child welfare and mental health systems to discuss these important issues;
• Studies collaborative approaches that work and shares this information; and 
• Ensures that child welfare issues are addressed in all of the TA Center activities.

Initiative Activities, Studies, and Projects

• A Family's Guide to the Child Welfare System (PDF Description)
• Mental health issues in states' Child and Family Service Reviews and Program Improvement Plans
• Meeting the Health Care Needs of Children in the Foster Care System
• Promising managed care approaches for behavioral health services for children and families in child welfare
• Welfare reform - implications for mental health and child welfare
• Mediation: a tool for making decisions and supporting families 
• Serving children with disabilities
• Promoting collaboration among national child welfare and mental health organizations
• Responding to requests for TA
• National conference calls
• Financing structures and strategies
• TA on child welfare issues for State Infrastructure Grant sites
• Primer Hands On - Child Welfare, Building Systems of Care

Child Welfare Initiative Publications

Questions about child welfare and mental health?
Contact Jan McCarthy, Director of Child Welfare Policy, National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health, jrm33@georgetown.edu, 202/687-5062