Analysis Of The Mental Health Needs Of Young Children Who Are Involved In The Child Welfare And Juvenile Justice Systems

Abstract

This article primarily focuses on how children in foster care and the juvenile justice system have mental health issues. This article also goes into depth about the risks of being put in foster homes, and how that affects the children physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. Questionnaires were given to the caregivers to access the children’s mental state. The results suggest that there were a high percentage of kids with mental health issues ranging from high to abnormal.

The Youngest Victims of Violence: Examining the Mental Health Needs of Young Children Who Are Involved in the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems.

Everyday, a child is put in these foster homes. These homes are supposed to protect the children and give them hope. Majority of the kids living in these homes are neglected, beaten, and mistreated. These things are what bring kids to act out, runaway, or find themselves in jail. We hear about children getting killed in foster care. We also hear about children harming their foster parents and ending up in prison, but do we ask ourselves why do they act out? Do they act out of anger, or is there something mentally wrong?

The beginning of the article brings up that may children are abused and have mental problems. Almost 80% of children in foster care have mental health problems. It also states that even younger children like infants develop many psychological problems ranging from being neglected to being mistreated. These problems often turn into bigger issues. Whereas children act out and defy authority and thinks everyone are against them.

Most children in the foster care system endure a lot of medical and behavioral issues. These children have hard times interacting with other individuals. They do not understand, because they are limited in many ways. Everyone has or is afraid of rejection. They bring up that these kids are rejected by almost everyone in society for mental disorders they cannot control. Once they feel rejected, the children automatically feel that no one cares and they defy the rules of society. Behavior problems that arise during childhood cause chances of crime and confinement to become greater.

Children who endure injustice are most likely to encounter delinquent behavior. Abuse does not necessarily lead to delinquent behavior, but most kids that come from foster care end up in the justice system. Neglect and maltreat effects not only, but also the whole world. This study focuses on the mental state of children placed in foster care and children who were placed in out of home placement.

Methods

A sample of 670 children from a wide variety of ethnic groups ranging from Latino to Caucasian. Some children from this study did not have information to provide, so they did not do the studies that involved race. The data came from children ranging from ages 3 to 11. There were 10 states involved in the study. The study had 25 different subscales ranging from emotional symptoms to behavior. Gender, race, and age were factors that played a huge role in this study.

Results

The results from the study show that majority of the kids had scores in borderline or abnormal range. Males had higher scores when it came to conduct problems. Females had worse scores for everything expect their emotional scores were good. There were almost no differences between the children when it came to hyper-activeness. The biggest differences coming from all races where from the emotional and hyperactive standpoint.

Discussion

This study found that children with mental health problems had severely high scores in conduct, hyperactivity, emotional, and peer problems. The study also shows that mental health problems affect males and females differently. Males had an overall high score in peer, hyperactivity, and conduct problems. Females embodied more internal behavior. Additional research needs to be done to understand boys and girls in the juvenile justice system.

Caucasian children were diagnosed with ADHD. African American children were most likely diagnosed with depression. We see that African American children showed more emotional problems than Caucasian children. Age was another factor that was different. It correlated positively with behavior. Once a child makes it into the juvenile justice system, it is hard to stay out of it. A better approach is needed to make sure the needs of children with mental health problems in the system are met.

Limitations

Even though this was a large study with numerous kids and several states, it was not done by professionals. Therefore, some of the results could have been recorded wrong, or over reported by the caregivers of these children. Also, the children in the study were in both the juvenile justice system and child welfare, therefore data could not be provided properly due to children being passed back and forth throughout the systems. Secondly, the children in this study were not compared to children with other toes of treatment programs. Lastly, the study did not have any background knowledge about the children or their family.

Conclusion

They concluded this article by stating that once kids are removed from abusive homes, they become a ward of the state. Also, more research is needed to understand children of different races and ages when it comes to mental health problems. This article was written in 2013, and some of these problems have not changed today. A change needs to happen. I am glad that I chose this article because it is something that I am fond of and one day I hope to become an advocate for children all over the world.

References

1. Whitted, K., Delavega, E. & Lennon-Dearing, R. (2013). The Youngest Victims of Violence: Examining the Mental Health Needs of Young Children Who Are Involved in the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 30(3), 181-195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-012-0286-9