Children at Risk: Optimizing Health in an Era of Reform, a new report and action brief from the November 2011 think tank symposium are now available from the Social Work Policy Institute of the National Association of Social Workers Foundation. To set an agenda to improve children’s health outcomes, the Social Work Policy Institute (SWPI) of the NASW Foundation with contributing partner, the University of Southern California School of Social Work (USC), and with PolicyLab of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, convened key stakeholders representing state and federal government agencies, community-based agencies, national professional and provider organizations, universities and policy entities. The think tank explored:
- Findings from research on health care delivery and the health characteristics of children in the child welfare system.
- Research to policy implementation strategies to improve physical and behavioral health outcomes, access and coverage for children served by the child welfare system.
- Implications of recent legislative provisions and their implementation including directives to ensure that behavioral health needs are more adequately met.
- Initiatives to develop measures for quality children’s health care delivery.
- Innovative practice models to guide improved outcomes for children, including perspectives from community-based prevention, health promotion, care coordination and service delivery models.
Recommendations address:
- Promoting access and continuity of care for children who have contact with the child welfare system.
- Creating systems of communication to achieve better accountability and to improve communications between agencies, providers and managed care organizations.
- Creating better focused and coordinated efforts to address health care needs of children served in the child welfare system at the highest levels within state and federal governments.
- Ensuring that the voices of families, communities and foster care alumni are included in the development of models to address healthcare needs in the child welfare system.
- Clarifying the authority to consent for healthcare, early intervention and other services for those who are in the foster care system and those who are served in their own home.
- Promoting the establishment of cross-disciplinary initiatives in universities to model the needs for interdisciplinary community-based practice.
Presentations:
- Lessons from Recent Research on Children in Child Welfare and Health Care (references)
Janet Schneiderman, USC, Symposium Academic Chair
- Bridging Research and Policy to Improve the Behavioral Health of Children in Child Welfare
Sarah Zlotnik, PolicyLab
- Measuring Children’s Health Outcomes – Current Status and Future Efforts
Suzanne Theberge, National Quality Forum
- Public Coverage for Children in an Era of Reform
Joan Alker, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families
- Innovations in Health-Related Care for Children in Child Welfare
Kamala Allen, Center for Health Care Strategies
- A View from Appalachia
Deirdra Robinson, Morehead State University
- A State and Local Perspective — Agencies Working Together for Families
David Berns, Department of Human Services, Washington, DC
- Integrating Behavioral Health into Health Care
Rita Vandivort-Warren, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Health Care in Child Welfare
Rachel Dodge, MATCH Program, Baltimore, MD
This report is the 5th major report released by the Social Work Policy Institute. For more information view the Publications, Research and News/Events on the Social Work Policy Institute website, www.socialworkpolicy.org.
