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For foster kids and teenagers, the biggest unmet health need is related to their mental and behavioral health. State Senate Bill 58 of Texas addresses the delivery of mental health, behavioral health, substance abuse, and other therapies managed care organizations, as well as its integration with the physical health services offered under the Medicare system. Medicaid is the major source of financing for both physical and mental health treatment for this group, and this policy makes it accessible to almost all children and teenagers who are currently or formerly in foster care. Superior HealthPlan is Texas' sole provider of health services to foster children and adolescents. They collaborate with clinics and hospitals around the state to guarantee that every youth has access to necessary care, such as primary care physicians and mental health experts, under a contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Another community practice effort is Resiliency Through Healing (RTH); this program helps individuals by offering free counseling and therapy services.

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When dealing with one's mental health, everyone in the community should work toward ensuring the individual has support, meaning in life, and a feeling of belonging. When faced with a challenge that seems overwhelming on your own, having someone to speak to or ask for aid from may be a huge step. Having a positive attitude on life and feeling more secure when you know you have people who care about you is a result of having a strong sense of social support. By focusing on emotional well-being, trauma-informed care practice may improve interactions between clients and professionals. We should encourage more organizations to adopt adjustments that improve individuals’ mental health and wellbeing, which can result in having improved outcomes and increased resilience. We should acquire some knowledge about mental illness. Misconceptions about mental illness are surprisingly frequent among individuals. Discover more about the topic, and then tell others about what you've discovered.

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Federal law mandates child welfare organizations to assist individuals in developing transition plans that include issues such as schooling, housing, jobs, income, and physical and mental health. A transition plan should begin early and be broken down into short-term, age-appropriate, and achievable goals that correspond with a youth's specific needs, aspirations, and assets. There are programs, such as Resiliency Through Healing, The Center for Health Care Services, and others, that are addressing their requirements by providing individualized care that focuses on enhancing an individual's capacity to satisfy their specific mental health needs or behavioral challenges. However, from our interactions with foster youth, we've learned that many of these programs have lengthy waiting lists before they can provide the mental health assistance these individuals need. In this image, we can see a trail of trees indicating the foster care community banding together to assist each other when support is unavailable due to a wait list or inability to access resources.

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The history of the foster care system is long and vast. The earliest record of children being placed in foster homes can be found in the Old Testament and the Talmud. The United States adopted what is referred to as the “poor laws” that was created in England to help families in poverty. Unfortunately, this law did little to protect the children from facing abuse and neglect once they entered the homes. In the 1900s social agencies began to adequately vindicate potential foster parents by keeping better records. The United States government also approved the authority of the state to remove a child from a home if they were a victim of abuse and neglect. In the 80’s and 90’s, acts like the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act or the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA) were created to keep the children’s best interests in mind and provide resources. However, there are still many challenges youth in foster care face; one of the being a mental health

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The American Academy of Pediatrics noted that “mental and behavioral health is the greatest unmet need for children and teens in foster care.” (Mental Health and Foster Care, 2019). In an ideal world there would be a large availability of mental health services and resources for foster youth that is led by well-trained practitioners who provide trauma-informed care, and systems would function beautifully with little to no issues. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Foster youth are met with barriers that can prevent access to needed care, some of these barriers can include a long waitlist, health insurance complication, or if the youth move from one placement to another. These issues further show the importance of advocating for system level change, there are many individuals that are impacted by lack of change within systems that want to be there to support children and youth within the foster care system.