Daily Health Policy Report
Capitol Hill Watch | Foster Children Do Not Receive Adequate Health
Care, Witnesses Tell House Panel
[Jul 20, 2007]
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=46371
CMS and state child welfare officials are failing to provide
adequate access to physical and mental health services to children in
foster care, witnesses on Thursday said at a House Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support hearing, CQ
HealthBeat reports. Panel Chair Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) said studies
show that between 30% and 80% of foster children have chronic health
conditions, including mental illnesses in many cases.
According to McDermott, The National Survey of Child and Adolescent
Well-Being found that three of four child welfare beneficiaries with
significant mental illnesses were not receiving care within 12 months
after an investigation into child abuse and neglect. Foster children in
most cases are eligible for Medicaid, but "many still do not receive
adequate health services, especially for mental health conditions,"
McDermott said.
Erin Sutton -- director of child safety at the Minnesota Department of
Human Services, who testified on behalf of the American Public Human
Services Association -- said Medicaid payments for "targeted case
management" help ensure foster children receive needed care. A 2005
study found that children with case managers were more likely to receive
care for physical illnesses, as well as dental and clinic-based care,
Sutton said. Thirty-eight states offer at least some targeted case
management services, and in at least 40% of those states, foster
children enrolled in Medicaid receive such services, Sutton added.
However, under the Bush administration's fiscal year 2008 budget
proposal, federal matching rate for targeted case management would drop
from up to 77% to no more than 50%. The provision, signed by President
Bush last year, also requires CMS to define "direct care services," for
which targeted case management funding could not be used -- a "seemingly
minor" change that could have a significant impact if the definition is
too broad, Sutton said. CMS is auditing targeted case management
programs in several states. The agency also is auditing Medicaid-funded
"Rehabilitation Services" benefits, which are reducing the cost of
foster children's mental health care received outside of hospitals.
Seattle pediatrician Abraham Bergman, who called the foster care system
"state-sponsored child abuse," recommended that the House adopt a bill
that would require states to coordinate health care for foster children.
According to Bergman, the services involved "are all covered by
Medicaid," so improvements in access to care could by achieved "without
new money" (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 7/20).
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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