Children's mental health services: a parent perspective

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Health Services Research
• Social Work

Background:

• Parents of severely emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children often lack involvement in policy-making.
• Effective interventions require understanding parental perspectives on child welfare services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and utilize a structured parent interview to gather insights from parents of disturbed children.
• To identify unmet needs and barriers to effective intervention for these children.
• To evaluate the quality of services within the context of established standards.

Main Methods:

• A structured parent interview was developed and administered.
• Thirty-five parents of emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children participated.
• Data collected included children's problems, service histories, and perceived barriers.

Main Results:

• Parents identified significant unmet needs and barriers to accessing timely and effective services.
• The quality of services received was assessed against Child and Adolescent Services System Program (CASSP) standards.
• Parental feedback provided rich information relevant to systemic changes.

Conclusions:

• Parents of severely emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children are valuable sources of information for system improvement.
• Incorporating parental perspectives can lead to more effective and responsive child welfare services.
• The study highlights the need for greater parental participation in policy-making processes affecting child welfare.