This project will develop a coalition of professionals serving children in foster care in Ramsey County, to include pediatrics, social services, special education and early intervention, mental health, judicial services, and parents or foster care graduates. This interdisciplinary, interagency group will create a plan for a health care home for children in foster care, building on previous collaborative work and the state of Minnesota's innovative efforts to develop and certify health care home models throughout the state.
The coalition will meet regularly to discuss barriers to care and care coordination for abused and neglected children, and will develop procedures for inter-agency collaboration. The goals will be the development of a health care home for children in foster care and the completion of a community needs assessment.
During the first half of 2010, Ramsey County had 337 children (0-10 years old) in out-of-home care. Foster children are served by existing mental health, medical, educational, social and judicial services, but these services are not coordinated. An absence of coordination and collaboration among agencies leads to redundancy in some services and deficiency in others. This project will improve the overall system and develop an effective health care home model for at-risk children.