Mental Disorder, Service Utilization, and GPA: Studying Mental Health of Former Child Welfare and Youth Experiencing Homelessness in a Campus Support Program

Abstract

Research has identified higher rates of mental disorders among former child welfare youth and youth experiencing homelessness when compared with their peers in the general population. Given the growing number of campus support programs serving these youth, research should focus on students in these programs to understand whether mental health problems interfere with these students’ receipt of program services, which can lead to unsatisfactory academic performance. This study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from students in a campus support program to examine the prevalence of mental disorders, mental health service use, receipt of program services, students’ grade point average, and their perceptions of obstacles and motivations to academic success. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.