Identifying and Reducing Barriers to Reunification for Seriously Mentally Ill Parents Involved in Child Welfare Cases

Forming judgments about parenting capacity, a necessary part of permanency planning, is much more difficult when the parent has a serious mental illness. The time necessary for effective treatment for such parents is often longer than the court-ordered time limit for family reunification. This puts mentally ill parents at a distinct disadvantage in their efforts to preserve their families. Using Arizona as an example, this article discusses the barriers in both child welfare and mental health systems to accurate and effective assessment and treatment. It presents recommendations for research and suggestions for child welfare personnel to enhance the potential for mentally ill parents to reunify with their children.

[1]  C. Zalaquett,et al.  Psychosocial Treatments for Major Depression and Dysthymia in Older Adults: A Review of the Research Literature , 2006 .

[2]  R. Drake,et al.  Implementing Dual Diagnosis Services for Clients With Severe Mental Illness , 2004 .

[3]  R. Cancro.  The schizophrenic disorders , 2003 .

[4]  C. Bowden.  Pharmacological Treatment of Bipolar Disorder , 2002 .

[5]  R. Conley,et al.  Management of treatment resistance in schizophrenia , 2001, Biological Psychiatry.

[6]  E. G. Francell.  A proven treatment for lack of insight. , 2001, Psychiatric services.

[7]  T. Jacobsen,et al.  Insight into mental illness and child maltreatment risk among mothers with major psychiatric disorders. , 2001, Psychiatric services.

[8]  A. Young,et al.  The Time Course of Treatment Costs Among Patients With Severe Mental Illness , 2001 .

[9]  A. Young,et al.  Datapoints: The time course of treatment costs among patients with severe mental illness. , 2001, Psychiatric services.

[10]  T. J. Stein.  The Adoption and Safe Families Act: Creating a False Dichotomy between Parents' and Childrens' Rights , 2000 .

[11]  D. Goff,et al.  Clozapine, diabetes mellitus, weight gain, and lipid abnormalities: A five-year naturalistic study. , 2000, The American journal of psychiatry.

[12]  D. Bybee,et al.  Mothers with a Mental Illness: Stressors and Resources for Parenting and Living , 2000 .

[13]  E. Tracy,et al.  Child welfare education and training: future trends and influences. , 2000, Child welfare.

[14]  J. Henry.  Permanency Outcomes in Legal Guardianships of Abused/Neglected Children , 1999 .

[15]  M. Heo,et al.  Antipsychotic-induced weight gain: a comprehensive research synthesis. , 1999, The American journal of psychiatry.

[16]  M. Dewan,et al.  A naturalistic study of risperidone maintenance treatment of outpatients with severe mental illness. , 1999, Psychiatric services.

[17]  J. Gorman,et al.  Treating Mental Disorders: A Guide to What Works , 1999 .

[18]  V. Dufort,et al.  Predicting child maltreatment in the first 4 years of life from characteristics assessed in the neonatal period. , 1999, Child abuse & neglect.

[19]  L. K. Stromwall,et al.  When a family member has a schizophrenic disorder: practice issues across the family life cycle. , 1998, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[20]  S. Strakowski,et al.  Course of psychiatric and substance abuse syndromes co-occurring with bipolar disorder after a first psychiatric hospitalization. , 1998, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[21]  P. Genty.  Permanency planning in the context of parental incarceration: legal issues and recommendations. , 1998, Child welfare.

[22]  C. Pike,et al.  Outdated practitioner views about family culpability and severe mental disorders. , 1998, Social work.

[23]  R. Mcclure,et al.  Hypersalivation coincident with olanzapine treatment. , 1998, The American journal of psychiatry.

[24]  J. Lieberman,et al.  Medical complications and selectivity of therapeutic response to atypical antipsychotic drugs. , 1998, The American journal of psychiatry.

[25]  R. Drake,et al.  Review of integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment for patients with dual disorders. , 1998, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[26]  S. Kelley,et al.  Meeting Relational Needs of Women with Serious Mental Illness: An Empowerment Model , 1997, Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling.

[27]  L. Miller.  Sexuality, reproduction, and family planning in women with schizophrenia. , 1997, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[28]  D. L. Johnson.  Overview of severe mental illness. , 1997, Clinical psychology review.

[29]  L. Miller,et al.  Sexuality, pregnancy, and childrearing among women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. , 1996, Psychiatric services.

[30]  W. Fisher,et al.  "Sylvia Frumkin" has a baby: a case study for policymakers. , 1996, Psychiatric services.

[31]  K. Kelleher,et al.  Onset of physical abuse and neglect: psychiatric, substance abuse, and social risk factors from prospective community data. , 1996, Child abuse & neglect.

[32]  W A Hargreaves,et al.  Clozapine eligibility among state hospital patients. , 1996, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[33]  W. Fisher,et al.  Mothers with Severe Mental Illness Caring for Children , 1995, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[34]  K. Pajer.  New strategies in the treatment of depression in women. , 1995, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[35]  K. Pajer,et al.  Schizophrenia and the life cycle. , 1995, Community mental health journal.

[36]  N C Andreasen,et al.  Awareness of illness in schizophrenia and schizoaffective and mood disorders. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[37]  A. Blanch,et al.  Rehabilitation for parenting roles for people with serious mental illness. , 1994 .

[38]  D. Oyserman,et al.  Resources and supports for mothers with severe mental illness. , 1994, Health & social work.

[39]  B. Dunn,et al.  Growing up with a psychotic mother: a retrospective study. , 1993, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[40]  William A. Anthony,et al.  Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s. , 1993 .

[41]  R. Bland.  Psychiatric Disorders in America: The Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study , 1992 .

[42]  D. Scott.  Early identification of maternal depression as a strategy in the prevention of child abuse. , 1992, Child abuse & neglect.

[43]  D S Rae,et al.  Comorbidity of mental disorders with alcohol and other drug abuse. Results from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Study. , 1990, JAMA.

[44]  L. Costin.  Child welfare: policies and practice , 1972 .