Parents should never be asked to choose between getting mental health treatment for their child and retaining legal custody of the child. Yet for at least 20 years they have been asked to do just that. Today, in half of the states almost one in four families seeking mental health care for a child face such an inhumane choice. Despite the long history of this kind of custody relinquishment and its dire consequences for families, the problem has received little attention. This report is designed to fill that gap with a comprehensive examination of the scope and causes of custody relinquishment for access to mental health services, followed by some recommendations for its prevention. Information about the nature of the problem and how some states are addressing it came from affiliates of the national Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health and other family advocates across the country. (Authors)
Report