Foster youth have higher rates of mental health diagnoses and poorer mental and physical health compared to their peers not in foster care. Youth involvement in behavioral and mental health treatment decisions has been identified as an important factor in supporting positive mental health outcomes for foster youth. However, existing research shows that negative behavioral and mental health care experiences among foster youth are common and that many youth feel uninformed about and excluded from treatment decisions. Previous research has also shown that young adults exiting foster care experience high rates of patient-initiated mental health treatment discontinuation.

The Psychotropic Decisions Study seeks to explore how to better support foster youth engagement in mental health treatment decisions.