Mental health challenges and best practices in children homes in India

As pre-existing research suggests, children in childcare systems face a number of challenges including mental health issues (cited in Pecora et al. 2009. Child Welfare, Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. 5–26). It needs to be recognised that the developmental and social–emotional needs of the children living in childcare systems or children homes are very diverse. Unhealthy attachments, traumatic history and family-life, lack of proper mental health screenings, lack of adequate mental health services and chronic illnesses are some of the reasons for those placed in children homes to be at an increased risk of mental disorders. There is still an existent gap between the children who require mental health services and those that are screened to receive these services. Mental health issues that are not timely addressed often lead to high-risk behaviours, abuse; emotional and physical, lack of permanency and dysfunctional relationships, among other struggles. There needs to be more focus on the strategies and developing evidence-based practices that can be applied to address the mental health concerns of these young individuals, keeping in mind the low ratio of services available to a large number of children who require these services.