Mental Health Services for Children: The State of the Art

Throughout this century, people in the United States have been concerned about the serious deficiencies in the mental health care of our children. Despite eloquent needs assessment and recommendations for remediation, most of the unserved needs and deficiencies of our mental-health-care-delivery system remain the same. This article reviews the current status of mental health services to children, youth, and families to highlight the necessity of an integrated system of mental health care. The development of a continuum of care that is coordinated across the mental health and non-mental-health systems that naturally occur in all children's lives has the potential to vastly improve mental health services to children, youth, and families.