It is important for CPS caseworkers and medical consenters to be aware of research about healthcare and disparities in treatment and ensure that decisions about services are made with the best interest of each individual child or youth in mind. To quote some sources:
Children and youth [in the child welfare system] living with relatives have been found to have lower rates of mental health and behavioral problems than do children in foster care and group care, although they have higher rates of these problems than the general population does and of those in non-child welfare related (informal) kinship placements.1
Parents should be expected and encouraged to participate in all school, medical and therapeutic appointments.2
1 Source: Gleeson, J.P. (2007). Kinship Care Research and Literature: Lessons Learned and Directions for Future Research. Kinship Report. Child Welfare League ofAmerica, 1(2), 1, 8-11.
2 Source: Technical Assistance Bulletin, Right from the Start: The CCC Preliminary Protective Hearing Benchcard, A Tool for Judicial Decision-Making, published by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Reno, Nevada. © 2010, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. All Rights Reserved.
