NCJ Number
230056
Journal
Families in Society Volume: 90 Issue: 4 Dated: October - December 2009 Pages: 382-389
Date Published
October 2009
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article examines results of surveys that investigated the attitudes of child protection and mental health professionals towards parents with mental illness.
Abstract
The results of surveys of child protection and mental health professionals' attitudes indicate that support services in both areas need to be tailored directly to the needs of parents with mental illness. A literature review reveals that in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, children of parents with a mental illness are strongly represented in statutory child protection. It was also found however, that programs and resources for these families came from initiatives within mental health service agencies rather than from child protection services. In this article, results are presented from interviews conducted with 19 child protection professionals, 17 mental health professionals, and 4 parents who were clients of both services. Interviewees completed a survey that included 25 statements assessing attitudes towards parents with mental illness. Two factors emerged from the interviews: the inadequate services factor and the inadequate parenting factor. These factors indicate that most child protection and mental health professionals do not necessarily consider parents with mental illness to be poor parents, but they do believe that existing services for these parents are inadequate. This lack of services may further increase parental stress, indicating a need for more coordination and collaboration for agencies providing assistance to these families. Table and references