promises unfulfilled
Last October, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced it had agreed to take steps to address "decades-long issues" in mental health and behavioral health access for Medicaid-eligible children.
The move was part of a lawsuit settlement agreement reached with Disability Rights Iowa and national health and law advocacy organizations, including Children's Rights, the National Health Law Program and a Boston law firm. The suit accused Iowa of a "longstanding failure" to provide Medicaid-eligible children with legally required and medically necessary mental health and behavioral health services.
Despite receiving federal funding for children's mental health, the state administered "an inadequate, inaccessible and dysfunctional mental health system," the suit said.
At the same time, however, Iowa and other states have failed to restore treatment and services for families that have been stripped away over the years. The number of minors admitted to drug treatment programs in the state plummeted in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, while overdoses exploded, state figures show.
Numerous public and private residential facilities for foster and delinquent youth shut down over the last decade.
From Iowa's 2019 through 2023 fiscal years, the number of group home beds for youth in the child welfare system tumbled by nearly half, to 357 from over 660. Shelter beds dropped by 55% to just 107 statewide last year, according to data obtained from Iowa's DHHS.
According to the latest numbers on DHHS’ website, those numbers dropped even more in 2024, leaving fewer than 330 group homes and 100 shelter beds.
Last October, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced it had agreed to take steps to address "decades-long issues" in mental health and behavioral health access for Medicaid-eligible children.
The move was part of a lawsuit settlement agreement reached with Disability Rights Iowa and national health and law advocacy organizations, including Children's Rights, the National Health Law Program and a Boston law firm. The suit accused Iowa of a "longstanding failure" to provide Medicaid-eligible children with legally required and medically necessary mental health and behavioral health services.
Despite receiving federal funding for children's mental health, the state administered "an inadequate, inaccessible and dysfunctional mental health system," the suit said.
At the same time, however, Iowa and other states have failed to restore treatment and services for families that have been stripped away over the years. The number of minors admitted to drug treatment programs in the state plummeted in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, while overdoses exploded, state figures show.
Numerous public and private residential facilities for foster and delinquent youth shut down over the last decade.
From Iowa's 2019 through 2023 fiscal years, the number of group home beds for youth in the child welfare system tumbled by nearly half, to 357 from over 660. Shelter beds dropped by 55% to just 107 statewide last year, according to data obtained from Iowa's DHHS.
According to the latest numbers on DHHS’ website, those numbers dropped even more in 2024, leaving fewer than 330 group homes and 100 shelter beds.
