ArticleChildren and youth services review2026
Characterizing the Use of Home-Based Behavioral Health Services Among Children in Foster Care.
Article in Children and youth services review, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Children in foster care (FC) experience disproportionately high rates of mental health (MH) needs and frequently use behavioral health services. They are overrepresented in restrictive MH settings and are more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications. Home-based behavioral health services (HBHS) offer a less restrictive alternative for addressing the complex needs of children in FC, but their use and effectiveness remain understudied. Methods: Using Medicaid data from 28 states, we examined MH service utilization among children aged 3-18 with primary MH diagnoses across three eligibility groups: FC (n=128,180), disability (n=214,959), and low-income (n=1,054,426). We summarized utilization patterns, estimated multivariable models of HBHS take-up, and assessed associations between HBHS and other MH-related care. Results: About 60% of children in FC had a MH diagnosis, compared with 65% of children with disabilities and 19% of children with income-based eligibility. HBHS use was highest among children in FC (29%), exceeding use among children with disabilities (15%) and low-income children (10%). Among children in FC, HBHS use was associated with greater MH diagnostic complexity, Black and Hispanic race/ethnicity, and certain MH diagnoses. HBHS use (vs. no use) was associated with lower odds of hospitalization (aOR=0.82), ED visits (aOR=0.75), and new psychotropic prescriptions (antipsychotics aOR=0.76; SSRIs aOR=0.80; ADHD medications aOR=0.77), and higher odds of school-based MH service use (aOR=1.47). Conclusions: HBHS are widely used within FC and serve clinically complex populations. Their use was linked to reduced reliance on restrictive and pharmaceutical care, suggesting that expanding access may enhance MH services for children.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.