Thesis statement.
The fragmented nature of the U.S. mental health system with its primary focus on tertiary care has created serious gaps in mental health service provision and consequently a large percentage of children with mental health needs receive little, if any intervention in their schools or communities. (Anderson, Mohr, 2003).
The biggest problem in filling this need gap is identifying children with mental health problems, not just because of the persistence of the stigma attached to it, but also because children with mental health problems represent a diverse group and our current assessment technologies are limited in the information that they can provide. As a result outcomes for children with mental health problems have continued to remain poor in our society.
This makes it even more imperative for our society to formulate a comprehensive policy framework that would guarantee minimum basic care (ideally foster case in a home-like environment) to these children, if they cannot, for some reason stay with their families. Ultimately, such a policy framework must account for protective factors, risk factors, and interventions cutting across race and ethnic considerations.
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