Learning Objective #1: Identify best practice guidleines for health care for children in foster placement according to the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement

Learning Objective #2: Discuss at least three health outcome characteristics of foster care children who are enrolled in a selected medical home project in Jefferson County, AL

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Nationwide, approximately 500,000 children are in foster placement at any given time and they are vulnerable to multiple health risks simply by virtue of being in foster care. Some children are particularly “at risk” due to factors such as a lifetime spent in poverty and/or the presence of special health care needs. Exacerbating the situation for all children in foster care is a lack of continuity in their medical care. Because of multiple changes that may occur in foster placement and assigned social workers, the child's primary care provider may change as well. Consequently, no one health care provider has a comprehensive picture of the child's medical history and health needs. Therefore, the purpose of this 5-year descriptive study is to examine the effect that a medical home can have on the health status of a foster care child who remains in the same medical practice for 5 years. The research question is, “What are health care outcomes for children in foster care who are enrolled in a medical home?” In a collaborative effort with the Jefferson County AL child protective services, selected children in foster care are referred to the Family Place Pediatric Clinic where they receive comprehensive, interdisciplinary health services. These services include: initial and on-going medical and nursing evaluations, social work initial and biannual assessments and re-evaluations and mental health initial and biannual assessments and re-evaluations. Outcomes include identified health care needs/diagnoses, status of routine health care visits and childhood immunizations and referrals/services received. Preliminary findings indicate that percentages of up-to-date well child visits and immunizations are higher than the national average, diagnoses reflect special health care needs and referrals/services have been received. Tracking of referrals and obtaining previous medical records continue to be a problem, even when it is a focus of the project.