Navigating the Mental Health Care System: A Conversation with Lauren McCarthy

Lauren McCarthy, PhD, LCSW shares a brief history of working with youth and families in Philadelphia and how that inspired her to learn more about increasing mental health care access equity. She identifies that we could provide all foster and kinship care providers with the same specialized training that therapeutic foster parents receive to improve placement stability for youth in out-of-home care. Lauren wraps up the conversation by talking about the many challenges that caregivers experience when navigating the mental health care system, particularly when youth enter acute crisis settings and the benefits of investing in better access to early mental health care.