The guidelines and supporting rationale presented in this paper were developed from the October 2007 "Best Practices for Mental Health in Child Welfare Consensus Conference" sponsored by Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the REACH Institute (REsource for Advancing Children's Health). The purpose of the conference was to develop best practice guidelines for addressing mental health in child welfare by focusing on five key areas--mental health screening and assessment, psychosocial interventions, psychopharmacological interventions, parent support and empowerment, and youth support and empowerment.