Pediatric Care for Children in Foster Care During COVID-19: Part I

Children in out-of-care home settings face unique healthcare challenges due to adverse childhood events that affect their mental and physical health. Families who take these children into their home face unique challenges as well, so they need support to meet their needs. Consequently, it’s important for primary providers to be aware of the tenets of care for this important patient population.

Listen to a pediatrician discuss pediatric care for foster children during COVID-19

In this episode, we discuss special healthcare considerations for children and teens living in out-of-home placements, including foster care, kinship care and group home settings, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pediatrician James Kafferly III, MD, from Denver Health joins us on this podcast.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• Use of the term “out-of-home care” versus “foster care”
• How the child welfare system works
• Baseline challenges that kids in out-of-home care may face and things that providers need to be aware of
• The importance of seeing these kids early and often
• Support that providers need to give to foster care families
• The importance of the transition period for youth and parents
• What providers need to be cognizant of during the pandemic in order to provide the best care for these kids