Field Placement: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Neal Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H and Cynthia Landes, M.P.H., M.A.
Student Name: Effie M. Eraklis
Year: 2003

Enhancing the Health Care Being Provided to Children in Foster Care

Children in foster care are sicker than homeless children and children living in the poorest sections of the inner city (GAO 1995). Many health care providers are unaware of the health and mental health conditions to which these children are most susceptible. In addition to the being naïve to health risks, many health care providers are also unaware of where health delivery fits in the foster care system, such as, the timing of required exams, the necessary communication with foster parents, social workers, and attorneys.

In an effort to enhance the health care being provided to children in foster care through Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, I began my internship by researching all aspects of foster care. After researching all of the issues, such as Medi-Cal eligibility, transfer of medical history information, the judicial system, health risks, mental health risks, etc., I was given the freedom to choose my method of enhancing their health care.

After doing a lot of research, visiting the outpatient pediatric clinic, and talking to many doctors and social workers, I decided that creating a guideline for the examinations of these children would be most beneficial and could most immediately improve the health care being provided at the clinic. I created a form that will be put in the clinic to be referred to by residents when they encounter a child in foster care. There are two main exams that are required, one within 72 hours of being placed in foster care, and one 30 to 60 days after placement. This form listed questions to ask and issues to address for each exam. In addition, on the back of the form there was a basic flow chart of the foster care system. This was used to help the provider better understand where these exams “fit” in the foster care system, as well as provide them with a better understanding of what steps this child has already been taken through prior to being at that doctor’s visit.

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