Some context: Experts say bad conditions can often be reversed with treatment.
Both mental health and drug addiction crises have roiled the country, and the effects of parental drug use and mental illness can quickly it trickles down to their children. Public health experts say substance use disorders can incapacitate a previously diligent parent and lead to the involvement of child protective services.
In 2021 alone, more than seven million children were referred to authorities due to abuse concerns, according to federal report, and more than 200,000 were displaced from their homes. However, research shows that when parents seek treatment for psychiatric and substance use disorders, they are much less likely to experience family separation.
The numbers: What the researchers found.
To calculate treatment rates among parents in Medicaid, the low-income health insurance program, Tami Mark, health economist at RTI, which led the investigation, and her colleagues drew from a new publicly available data set that used de-identified Social Security numbers to link child welfare records in Florida and Kentucky to their corresponding Medicaid claims records starting in 2020.
For comparison, they also analyzed a random sample of Medicaid recipients who had no records in the child welfare system. (The study did not record any counseling or medication provided outside of Medicaid, nor cases of undiagnosed mental health or substance use disorders.)
Among 58,551 parents who had a child referred to welfare services, more than half had a psychiatric or substance use diagnosis, compared with 33 percent of the comparison group. About 38 percent of those with referrals who had mental health disorders and 40 percent of those who had substance use disorders had received counseling. about 67 percent of those with mental health disorders and 38 percent of those with substance use disorders had received medication.
Norma Coe, an associate professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the research, said some of the rates were worse than general Medicaid treatment itemssuggesting that some barriers could be specific to parents.
“Overall, the US supports parents and caregivers less than many other countries,” said Dr.
What happens next: Examining barriers.
The study authors highlighted a number of barriers to receiving counseling and medication, including stigma, inconvenience and fear of losing parental rights.
They called for better coordination between social programs, such as integrating child welfare and Medicaid data systems so it’s clear when parents need to be connected to specific services.
But Dr. Stephen Wolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies disparity, said there is another challenge: a lack of treatment providers who will accept patients on Medicaid, which pays lower reimbursement rates than private insurance companies.
“Access to behavioral health services is inadequate in the United States,” he said, “but it’s even worse for Medicaid beneficiaries.”