Mental Health Programs to Aid D.C. Foster Children, Families

Youth Villages' Kate Quirk talks at a meeting in Arlington with co-workers Annie Smith, clinical consultant, left, and family counselors Jeanette Cohen and Cherise Offley. (Juana Arias -- The Washington Post)

The city's mental health and child welfare agencies have hired three new contractors to provide mental health services to District foster children, juvenile delinquents and foster families.

The mental health programs, funded through a $3.9 million federal grant, are designed to support foster families and bring stability to the lives of foster children and youth in need of city services.

Based on national models, the programs will include in-home visits and a crisis response team capable of offering overwhelmed foster parents nonstop support for up to three days. At least 100 children and youths and 90 families are expected to receive services in the first year.

Child welfare experts familiar with the District foster care system's troubles said the programs are innovative and signal that the city is making a significant change. The District's Child and Family Services Agency was previously in receivership, which ended in 2001, and remains under court order to stabilize foster care placements.

"Family instability, abuse and neglect, removal from home, multiple placements and other factors too often leave some child and teen victims with serious emotional and behavioral issues," Brenda Donald Walker, director of Child and Family Services, said in a statement. "They deserve expert, caring treatment."

The agency's records show that 12 percent of the city's estimated 2,300 foster children live in three or more foster homes in a year. Many times they receive little mental health counseling, or they were so traumatized that existing treatment plans don't fit their needs, officials said.

"If a child had a medical problem, we would respond quickly," said Martha Knisley, director of the Department of Mental Health. "This to me is the highest priority for us, to make certain that children who come to the attention of the child welfare system get the support services that they need in a timely manner -- not after months of hearing about problems."

To launch the programs, the city awarded contracts totaling $2.56 million to three companies. One contractor, Youth Villages, is based in Tennessee and has been lauded by the National Institutes of Health. The other contractors are the Lester A. Drenk Behavioral Health Center, which has provided emergency services to 8,000 clients a year in its southern New Jersey offices, and District-based First Home Care, which officials said previously provided therapeutic foster care services for District children. City social workers will make referrals for the new services.

Youth Villages, which will do in-home counseling for 96 youths ages 10 to 17, has 14 active cases and 12 pending, said Kate Quirk, senior clinical supervisor.

Gina Ceneviva, a Youth Villages counselor, said that when she explained to a parent last week that she would visit three times a week and would be available by beeper any hour of the day or night, the parent was excited. "You could almost see the light bulb going off," Ceneviva recalled. "It alleviates the guilt because the parent says, 'Oh, okay, this is not all on me."

The Drenk behavioral center will serve clients ages 5 to 21. Katherine Gee, the program's director, said her staff is still waiting for clients. She supervises five crisis counselors who will respond to referrals from the city's 24-hour mental health access line, which foster parents can call to request help.

"It's critical because the placement could be in imminent danger of being lost," Gee said. "We focus on de-escalating the crisis."

The third program, Foundations for Home and Community, is available on a referral basis to 90 families with foster children who have serious emotional disturbances, officials said.

The District's child welfare system was once plagued by overburdened caseworkers and had trouble keeping track of children. In addition, foster parents who felt overwhelmed by children would leave them at the agency, said Mindy Good, agency spokeswoman.

Court monitor Judith Meltzer said that the new services have been long needed.

"Child welfare cannot do it's job without good relationships and access to mental health services," Meltzer said. "I think it's a first important step, but I think there's more that's needed."

Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said the District's efforts to model its programs after successful efforts across the country is the right approach.

"This indicates that [Child and Family Services] has been looking to find what really works around the country and bring it to the District," Wexler said. "They deserve a lot of credit for making this attempt."