State officials hope new federal funding will help reach foster children with emotional and behavioral issues. The aim is to catch mental health issues early on.
The pilot program Project Safespace is expected to be up and running in the first quarter of 2016. It ensures behavioral health screenings for all children entering out-of-home care. Clinical Consultant Dorothy Hickerson says the pilot will affect children in Fayette, Boyd, and surrounding counties.
“If we can connect them with the most appropriate services and match them with the most appropriate placements, then there are fewer placement disruptions,” said Hickerson. “As a result, there is not additional trauma created for that child.”
Lucinda Masterton is a family court judge in Fayette County. She says too often now, foster parents don’t fully understand the challenges they are about to face. “But a lot of time, these children come into care with a panoply of mental health or emotional issues,” said Masterton. “And foster parents just aren’t equipped to deal with it a lot of the time. They don’t have the training.”
If children are moved often, Judge Masterton says they are prone to shut down because they feel there’s no benefit in advocating for themselves. She says that’s why it’s important to screen children early on. “What we really want to do is arrest that at the beginning. Get these children appropriate mental health care early and keep that care consistent,” said Masterton.
The pilot program is supported with a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Administration on Children. The aim is to take Safespace statewide by 2018.?
