Electronic information exchange can help providers coordinate care for children through better information sharing and, thereby, help ensure that appropriate, cost-effective services are delivered.
The Children's Partnership is working to improve health and wellness outcomes for children living in foster care by enhancing care coordination among the multiple providers in health care, mental health, education, juvenile justice, and child welfare agencies who deliver services to these children. Our focus is on increasing access to and sharing of information through leveraging existing technology assets and establishing new infrastructure. The goal is to link state- and county-level electronic systems, while maintaining essential privacy protections and meeting security standards, such that each provider can have an understanding of the whole child -- both at a single point in time and over time -- leading to better decisions and more coordinated services. Such a system-of-systems will also afford older youth the opportunity to have more efficient access to their own information, which will empower them to play a role in their own care, and better prepare them as they transition to adulthood. This innovative use of information technology will dramatically change the foster care environment in California, improving both provider effectiveness and the lives of at-risk children.
Download the project summary for more information about current project activities.
