A new resource center recently debuted with the goal of building bridges between child welfare systems and mental health systems.
The National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services has opened, kicking off its five-year mission to create systemic changes in how mental health is addressed for children and youth in foster care. Funded by the U.S. Children’s Bureau, the Center offers a wide range of support and services to help professionals better approach the mental health and well-being of children, youth, and families involved with the system.
It aims to accomplish this goal by providing resources, training, technical support, and tailored assistance about how to best ensure and increase access to culturally responsive and adoption-competent services for children and youth experiencing foster care, adoption, or guardianship. These resources are intended to improve stability and permanency outcomes for all involved, as well as overall mental health. Additionally, the Center will prioritize lived experience and equity in all of its work.
The three primary services offered by the center are its knowledge hub, its technical assistance, and its trainings. Read more to learn about the specific benefits and services you can access in your work to improve your mental health approaches.
Knowledge hub
You can visit the Center’s website to access its knowledge hub, which features a dynamic list of resources designed to build the capacity of states, tribes, territories, and others to offer comprehensive adoption-competent mental health services.
Designed primarily for child welfare and mental health professionals, the library includes resources in the following categories:
- child welfare mental health competence
- collaboration between systems and coordination of services
- equity
- youth and family engagement
- kinship care
- tribal communities
- technical assistance
Technical assistance
During the five-year initiative, 30 states, tribes, and territories will receive intensive technical assistance.
Offered over a period of 18 months, the technical assistance aims to accomplish three primary goals:
- increased collaboration between child welfare and mental health systems
- increased use of the training offered by National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI), which can be viewed on its website
- increased accessibility of quality mental health services
The Center’s team can help child welfare partners numerous ways, including:
- building alliances with the mental health system
- supporting improved access to adoption-competent mental health services for children and families that encounter the child welfare system, especially those who struggle with issues of separation, loss, grief, trauma, or who are processing issues related to their behavioral health and permanency experiences
- helping develop and strengthen strategies to ensure an accessible, trauma-based, culturally responsive, and linguistically appropriate service array
Training and other assistance
The Center will also be offering webinars, podcasts, and other events and support for the child welfare and mental health communities. Sign up for the Center’s email list to stay abreast of upcoming events and new resources and opportunities.
