Perceived Mental Health, Behavioral, and Adaptive Needs for Children in Medical Foster Care

The Needs of Foster Children and How to Satisfy Them: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Other medical conditions that are also often encountered in the foster care population are obesity, dental problems, skin conditions, STD’s, infections and allergies. A complete list is beyond the scope of this article, so we refer the reader to the above articles and these additional manuscripts (Arora et al 2014 ; Becker and Barth 2000 ; Lauver 2008 ; Ogg et al 2015 ; Rubin et al 2004 ). While many articles report children in foster care have higher rates of medical health problems (e.g., Ringeisen et al 2008 ), a study by Raman and Sahu ( 2014 ) did not find any differences between children in foster care and children at risk living in with their parents.…”

“…Children should be assessed and screened for medical conditions by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals (Kaltner and Rissel 2011 ; Ogg et al 2015 ; Rodrigues 2004 ), which should be administered as soon as a child comes into foster care (Chernoff et al 1994 ; Steele and Buchi 2008 ). Nevertheless, not all children receive a medical examination (Rodrigues 2004 ).…”

“…Around 6% of children in foster care seem to experience a complex combination of medical and mental health problems (Yampolskaya et al 2014 ). The mental health issues mentioned are related to dealing with separation and loss (Chernoff et al 1994 ; Nathanson and Tzioumi 2007 ), exposure to drugs and alcohol (Chernoff et al 1994 ), emotion or behavior regulation (Arora et al 2014 ; Bell et al 2015 ; Bellamy et al 2010 ; Fernandez 2008 ; Goemans et al 2015 ; Guibord et al 2011 ; McMillen et al 2004 ; McNicholas et al 2011 ; Ogg et al 2015 ; Ringeisen et al 2008 ; Rodrigues 2004 ; Steele and Buchi 2008 ; Stoner et al 2015 ; Sullivan and van Zyl 2008 ; Yampolskaya et al 2014 ), sexual abuse or inappropriate sexual behavior (Chernoff et al 1994 ; McMillen et al 2004 ), self-harm and violent behavior (Chernoff et al 1994 ; McNicholas et al 2011 ) and substance abuse (Gabrielli et al 2016 ; Guibord et al 2011 ). Mental health problems are positively correlated with the child’s current age, the age at the time of placement, maltreatment history and the number of placements (Cantos et al 1996 ; Gabrielli et al 2016 ; Maaskant et al 2014 ; Shin 2005 ; Steele and Buchi 2008 ).…”

“…Mental health problems of children in foster care should be regularly screened and assessed in order to provide timely interventions, preferably by multiple informants (Cantos and Gries 2010 ; Nathanson et al 2009 ). Although many foster children receive mental health services, some authors warn about a gap between foster children’s mental health issues and the referral rate (Fontanella et al 2015 ; Hill and Watkins 2003 ; Kaltner and Rissel 2011 ; Ogg et al 2015 ; Petrenko et al 2011 ; Shin 2005 ). Only 23% of foster parents are assured that the mental health needs of their child are met (Hayes et al 2015 ).…”