Receipt and Timeliness of Mental Health Assessment, Treatment, and Acute Services Following Foster Care Entry

Children often enter foster care (FC) with mental health (MH) concerns. Failure or delay in initiating treatment may result in overreliance on acute MH services. This report leverages 2010-2019 linked administrative child welfare and healthcare claims data for 13,562 Wisconsin children entering FC at ages 3-16 years to describe patterns of MH services during FC and examine how MH service use varies by demographic characteristics and maltreatment, FC, and MH histories. Two-thirds of children received MH assessment or treatment during FC, of whom 61% initiated services within 3 months of entry. Younger age, kinship care, and absence of MH history were negatively associated with onset of assessment and treatment. One in 7 children used acute MH services, with higher rates for Black children, adolescents, and youth in non-family settings. Timely MH assessment and treatment is important for foster children's wellbeing, but current guidelines may lack accountability and monitoring mechanisms.