Foster Care

The Children's Partnership and SPARC co-released Electronic Information Exchange: Elements that Matter for Children in Foster Care, an issue brief that lays out the case for investing in systems that enable electronic information exchange for children and youth in foster care, reviews existing efforts underway in states and communities, identifies specific elements that serve this population most effectively, and discusses steps that state advocates can take to establish an integrated electronic record of care for foster children and youth in their state.

The Children’s Partnership and SPARC will be hosting an webinar on Thursday, January 31^st at 2:00pm EST. Speakers will include Beth Morrow, Director of Health IT Initiatives at The Children’s Partnership, author of the issue brief. 

You can register for the webinar here.

Beth Morrow | January 2013

This brief lays out the case for investing in systems that enable electronic information exchange for children and youth in foster care, reviews existing efforts underway in states and communities, identifies specific elements that serve this population most effectively, and discusses steps that state advocates can take to establish an integrated electronic record of care for foster children and youth in their state.

Download the issue brief.

The Children’s Partnership and SPARC co-hosted a webinar, Electronic Information Exchange: Elements that Matter for Children in Foster Care (audio recording and slides), providing examples of current electronic information exchange programs in the states.

On January 1, 2013, federal lawmakers passed a bill that will improve social workers’ access to school records of the children and youth in foster care that they support. 

"Through the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, Congress has provided an important stepping stone to improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care," said Beth Morrow, Director, Health IT Initiatives. Download her full statement here .

Read about the Uninterrrupted Scholars Act here. 

Say Ahhh! A Children's Health Policy Blog

Ginny Puddefoot, Director of Health IT Initiatives for Vulnerable Youth, blogs on ensuring that foster kids benefit from the ACA. 

By Stefanie Gluckman with Ashley Phelps | May 2011

California is poised to make great progress, and has an opportunity to leverage the tremendous potential of information technology to improve health and wellness outcomes for vulnerable populations, particularly children and youth living in foster care.  Recent technology and policy developments have created an environment in which it is possible to transform the delivery of care by linking systems, programs, and providers, allowing decision-makers efficient access to the information necessary to provide comprehensive care to the whole child.Building on two previous reports, this Issue Brief summarizes the potential for electronic information exchange to enhance care coordination and improve outcomes, highlights current efforts at the state and local level to achieve these results, and raises a few policy issues that, if resolved, would facilitate movement toward the goal of appropriate information exchange between programs and providers to serve vulnerable youth.

Download this Issue Brief.

By Stefanie Gluckman with Ashley Phelps | February 2010

The need for efficient and effective coordination of care to adequately serve children living in foster care is broadly acknowledged by experts in the field. This Roadmap describes how information technology and the electronic exchange of information can be used as a powerful tool to improve the coordination of care and provision of services for children living in foster care in California.

After presenting alternative models for an electronic system that facilitates information sharing between providers in the foster care system, and considering the technical, financial, and political opportunities that exist for moving this effort forward, this Roadmap recommends concrete steps that the State and other key stakeholders can take toward improving outcomes for children in foster care through the use of information technology.

Download the Full Roadmap  (PDF, 1.2 MB).

Download the Executive Summary  (PDF, 184 KB).

Working Draft by Stefanie Gluckman with Terri Shaw | October 2008

This Issue Brief describes how Electronic Record Systems (ERS) - electronic health records, personal health records, and similar technology solutions that facilitate the management, sharing, and use of information - can benefit children in foster care, and the systems that serve them. The brief profiles state and local ERS efforts for the foster care population, highlighting early evidence of the efforts' impact and outlining lessons- learned. It also provides recommendations for actions to expand the reach of ERSs to benefit greater numbers of children in foster care and, potentially, other children and families.

Download the Issue Brief (PDF, 516 KB)

Download the Exectuve Summary (PDF, 216 KB)

Download a One-Page Overview of How Technology is Being Used to Improve the Lives of California's Foster Care Youth (PDF, 92 KB)

Download TCP's comments  on California's HIE Strategic and Operational Plan, submitted August 9, 2012

Download submitted comments  to the Administration on Children and Families concerning the redesign of requirements for Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (a comprehensive automated case management tool that supports social workers' foster care and adoptions assistance case management practice).