Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) have developed health care standards for children in the foster care system. These standards include a physical exam upon entry for acute and chronic needs and a comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment within 30 days.
Objective: To assess compliance with the AAP and CWLA health care standards for children entering the child welfare system.
Design/Methods: Child welfare administrators and staff from over 100 probability-sampled counties are being interviewed by telephone. Questions focus on written policies and formal systems or programs in place for each of four examinations: an initial physical health screening, a comprehensive physical exam, a mental health exam, and a developmental exam.
Results: Preliminary results show that many counties are not complying with the AAP and CWLA standards. For example, while all the counties surveyed to date report that children entering out of home care receive an initial health screening, less than 50% provide a mental health or developmental exam. Results from the full sample will be available in May 2001.
Conclusions: Counties need to increase efforts to ensure that children receive necessary health care while in the care of the Child Welfare System.
Learning Objectives: 1. List the components of the CWLA and AAP health care standards for children in the foster care system. 2. Evaluate reported compliance with these standards. 3. Discuss the impact of compliance with these standards.
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Screening
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.