Psychological well-being is crucial to successful human development because of its strong influence on an individual's work and family life and on one's functioning in the community. Despite an increasing understanding of the fundamental importance of mental health and significant progress on many fronts, policymakers and the general public do not yet fully see the prevention and treatment of mental illness as a mainstream public health issue, nor do they understand fully the benefit to the larger society of investing in helping those with mental illness.
California agreed to provide intensive home and community-based mental health services for children in foster care or at risk of removal from their families. This victory was the culmination of nine years of legal advocacy by grantee the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and local partners. The State will make available intensive home-based services and intensive care coordination under Medicaid, and will determine what parts of therapeutic foster care are covered by Medicaid and provide such service to Medicaid-eligible children as needed. This decision is important not only for California, which, with 50,000 children, has the nation's largest foster care system, but also for other states that may follow the precedent established in this case.
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