title: Improving healthcare for children entering foster care.
abstract: Despite the fact that children in foster care are, perhaps, the most vulnerable children, healthcare for them has been lacking woefully for many years. A growing body of research has documented the need for such care as well as the failure of child welfare agencies to make major improvements in providing healthcare to foster children. Nonetheless, current efforts are being made to change this situation. This article reports on one effort to improve the provision and timeliness of health exams for children entering care. One rural and one urban county served as project treatment sites, with two additional rural and urban counties serving as control sites. The treatment sites achieved a statistically significant improvement in their rate of exam completion as compared to the control sites. The study finds that despite an existing policy for healthcare for children entering foster care, legislation mandating additional efforts, shortened time frames, and provision for judicial oversight are needed for improvement.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Risley-Curtiss
authors.forename: Belva
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stites
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000639:trends*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000592:standards*; D006291:Health Policy; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019035:Rural Health Services; D015206:Southwestern United States; D013997:Time Factors; D019037:Urban Health Services; D035862:Vulnerable Populations