Depending on their socio-economic status, families often have different value judgments about what is normal behavior and may be reluctant to seek psychiatric treatment for fear of stigma. In child welfare populations, Benoit says, the situation is similarly dire, with meager service that leads to inappropriate diagnoses. This is all too common, and they call that mental health services. Broad evidence exists that the lack of a unified infrastructure too often results in children not being identified as having mental health problems. Instead, they are funneled into the juvenile justice system- impoverished children and youth of color disproportionately so.
Studies suggest race is a strong predictor of mental health outcomes.
Black youth are more likely to be referred for mental health services because of behavior problems they present rather than because someone identified warning signs that may have emerged much earlier. More often, they are sent to corrections because of these undiagnosed problems instead of receiving psychiatric treatment. What is needed, the report states, is a move toward a community health system that balances health promotion, disease prevention, early detection, and universal access to care. Child mental health experts say that success would be a commitment to mental health that is equivalent, for example, to the government's initiatives in childhood immunization. The bottom line, the report says, is that there must be improved, earlier recognition and appropriate identification within child-serving systems.