- Futures uncertain for those aging out of child welfare system, By JoAnne Young, October 25, 2012, Lincoln Journal Star: “Reba Payne and several of her six siblings entered the child welfare system just after she turned 15. Now 17, she found herself testifying in front of a panel of state senators Thursday about what it means to age out of the foster care system in Nebraska. In her case, that will be in a year, when she is in the first semester of her senior year in high school. Nineteen-year-old John Thompson left the system a month ago after having been a state ward since age 12. He spoke at a news conference just before Thursday’s hearing on the foster care interim study (LR537) introduced by Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill. When Thompson left the system, he said, he didn’t feel ready to be on his own and didn’t have many resources. He didn’t know how to get through a job interview, and he was trying to figure out how to resurrect all the advice he had received over the years from judges, counselors and others in the system…”
- State aims to fix ‘fragmented’ health care system for kids, By Erin Toner, October 22, 2012, Milwaukee Public Radio: “The state of Wisconsin says it will soon roll out a new health care system for children in foster care. They often have far more serious medical and mental health needs than peers, yet people involved with the children say, too often, their needs are not met. In the first of a two-part series, WUWM’s Erin Toner reports on a big shortcoming of the current health care system for foster children – their medical records are scattered and incomplete. What the state plans to do to address the problem, is create for each child, a ‘medical home…'”
- New health care model for kids seeks to better identify abuse, neglect, By Erin Toner, October 23, 2012, Milwaukee Public Radio: “We now continue our series on Wisconsin’s efforts to improve the health of children in foster care. Child welfare officials admit the existing system is not meeting many kids’ needs. As we reported Tuesday, the children’s health records are often incomplete and scattered among the many caregivers and doctors who’ve passed through the kids’ lives. To address the problem, the state plans to roll out a ‘medical home’ program that would centralize each child’s care. Today, WUWM’s Erin Toner highlights another state initiative – a sharper focus on helping children heal from trauma and abuse…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty