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Fact Sheets

  • The Medical Home and Foster Care
    Understand the role of the medical home for children in foster care and why they meet the definition for children with special health care needs.
  • Foster Care Facts
    What's Involved | Types | Steps l Considerations / Transitions l Advocating l Understanding Roles l Medical Appointments / Therapies l Tools and Resources l Local Agencies. Developed by The Center for Infants and Children with Special Needs at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  • Facts for Families on Foster Care. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Policy Statements

Periodicals/Articles

Impact of Kinship Care on Behavioral Well-being for Children in Out-of-Home Care
David M. Rubin, MD, MSCE; Kevin J. Downes, MD; Amanda L. R. O'Reilly, MPH; Robin Mekonnen, MSW; Xianqun Luan, MS; Russell Localio, PhD Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(6):550-556. Published online June 2, 2008

Jeffrey S. Harman, George E. Childs, and Kelly J. Kelleher
Mental Health Care Utilization and Expenditures by Children in Foster Care Archive of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. 2000;154:1114-1117

Sandra Bass, Ph.D., Margie K. Shields, M.P.A., and Richard E. Behrman, M.D.
Children, Families, and Foster Care: Analysis and Recommendations The Future of Children. WINTER 2004;14(1)

Reports/Guides

  • Fostering Health: Health Care for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care - 2nd Edition. Task Force on Health Care for Children in Foster Care American Academy of Pediatrics, District II, New York State . The 170-page guide detailing standards of health care for children in foster care can be purchased by calling the AAP toll-free at 888/227-1770 or through the AAP Bookstore.

    Overview: With a higher prevalence of health, developmental, and behavioral problems, children and adolescents in foster care require a specialized approach to medical care. Developed by an AAP multidisciplinary panel of experts, this second edition features new and updated material, including practice parameters for primary care, developmental and mental health care, and child abuse and neglect, as well as health care management, AAP policy statements, and more.

  • Foster Care Pediatrics, Monroe County, NY (Site Visit Report)
    Overview of the Approach: Foster Care Pediatrics is a full service primary care pediatric clinic dedicated to providing comprehensive medical services to children in foster care in Monroe County, New York. Foster Care Pediatrics operates under the auspices of Monroe County Department of Health (DoH) in collaboration with Monroe County Department of Social Services (DSS). Both agencies are committed to the well being of children in foster care and to providing the best possible health care services. Foster Care Pediatrics is funded through Medicaid in addition to receiving financial support from the Department of Health. The mission of Foster Care Pediatrics is to provide:
    • comprehensive, high quality primary health care to children in foster care;
    • coordination of health care services;
    • support and education for foster families and casework staff;
    • advocacy; and
    • development of collaborative efforts to enhance wellness.

    This information provided in this publication is the result of a 3-year project conducted by the Georgetown University Child Development Center to identify and describe promising approaches for meeting the health care needs of children in the foster care system. In response to a national search for promising approaches, information was collected on over 100 different approaches. Multiple publications representing the findings of the study are available.

  • Fostering Healthy Children, State of Utah (Fact Sheet)
    Description: Fostering Healthy Children is a statewide program in Utah that provides health care case management for children in out-of-home placement. The goal of Fostering Healthy Children is to ensure that the health care needs—including medical, dental, mental health—of children in foster care are met. Public health nurses, who are co-located at child welfare agencies throughout the state, track health care visits and monitor needed follow-up, coordinate health care delivery, provide training for child welfare workers and develop care provider resources. Nurses ensure that the children receive screening, comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health exams, and follow-up services. Health care services are provided through each child’s primary health care provider, emergency rooms or clinics. The nurses use a computerized case management system to track the health care history of each child. In addition, each child receives a traveling record that contains health information, medical visits and records, and the birth certificate. This record stays with the child. The public health nurses gather the health history for this record.

    Utah was one of five states selected by the National Academy for State Health Policy Study (NASHP) to receive technical assistance to help improve health care for children in foster care. This information provided in this publication is the result of a 3-year project conducted by the Georgetown University Child Development Center to identify and describe promising approaches for meeting the health care needs of children in the foster care system. In response to a national search for promising approaches, information was collected on over 100 different approaches. Multiple publications representing the findings of the study are available.

  • Improvements in State Foster Care System Would Aid Children with Special Needs (Report) Heather McCabe and Kathryn Fox. 2004

    This report, produced jointly by the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment and the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health, addresses the need for improvements in Indiana's foster care system.

  • Improving family foster care: Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study
    (Report) Pecora PJ, Kessler RC, Williams J., et al. 2005; Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs. (Revised).

    "PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and major depression may be the most far-reaching mental health conditions for alumni in young adulthood," state the authors of Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. The study examined how children and adolescents who were formerly in foster care (alumni) have fared as adults, and what changes in foster care services could improve their lives. The report includes: (1) selected findings about the current functioning of alumni, (2) comparisons of findings with findings from other studies and general population benchmarks, (3) analyses of foster care experience areas that lead to positive outcomes, and (4) recommendations to help improve outcomes for children and adolescents who are currently in foster care.

  • Protecting Children in Foster Care: Why Proposed Medicaid Cuts Harm Our Nation's Most Vulnerable Youth
    (Report) Rubin D, Halfon N, Raghavan R, Rosenbaum S. 2005; Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.

    Examines Medicaid's role in providing health care to children and adolescents in foster care and assesses the implications of various Medicaid reform proposals. The report, published by Casey Family Programs, describes the health and health needs of children and adolescents in foster care and child welfare programs, examines key provisions contained in four separate Medicaid reform proposals, and identifies issues that should be considered as part of a longer-term Medicaid reform effort.

  • Recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (Report)
    Overview: In therapeutic foster care programs, youths who cannot live at home are placed in homes with foster parents who have been trained to provide a structured environment that supports their learning social and emotional skills. To assess the effectiveness of such programs in preventing violent behavior among participating youths, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature regarding these programs. Reported and observed violence, including violent crime, were direct measures.

  • Serving Children with Disabilities Handbooks for Child Welfare Workers Handbook
    Provides child welfare personnel with information about various developmental disabilities to help them recognize signs of disabilities in the children they serve. Key developmental milestones children achieve as they grow and develop as well as atypical behaviors are described. In addition biological and social factors that may increase a child's risk for developmental disability are described. This manual provides state and national resources that child welfare workers will find helpful. Developed by Georgetown University Child Development Center for Child Health and Mental Health Policy. There are 4 parts of the publication I. Developmental Disabilities II. Supporting Families with Children with Disabilities III. Accessing Services Through IDEA IV.

  • The Adoption and Safe Families Act: Exploring the Opportunity for Collaboration between Child Mental Health and Child Welfare Systems (Guide)

    Overview: This resource guide is designed as a technical assistance tool for child welfare and children's mental health systems to provide information about the Adoption and Safe Families Act, especially exploring creative ways for child welfare and children's mental health systems to work together in the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. By Judith Meyers, Jan McCarthy, and Vivian Jackson, May 1999

 Last Updated August 21, 2008

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