title: The medical and psychosocial needs of children entering foster care.
abstract: The estimated three to four hundred thousand children in foster care represent a population at high risk for medical and psychosocial problems. Their problems are compounded by the lack of adequate resources available to them while in foster care. This study provided a medical and psychosocial screening of 149 abused and neglected children entering the foster care system. The goal was to generate a profile of the medical and psychosocial needs of children entering the foster care system as a first step toward development of a better health care delivery system. Results indicated that these children have a much greater incidence of chronic medical conditions, are likely to weigh significantly less and be significantly shorter than the general population, require significant amounts of medical sub-specialty care, have a high incidence of developmental delays, and major deficits in adaptive behavior and have a large number of behavioral problems often associated with psychiatric disorders. Results are discussed in terms of the development of a regional model to effectively manage the health care needs of children entering foster care.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male