Many Colorado foster children aren’t screened for mental health problems as quickly as they should be. According to data recently reviewed by legislatorssaid they were concerned about delays in care and other issues raised Colorado Sun Survey About broken adoption.
A recent report from the state’s Medicaid system bolsters Sun’s findings that 13% of foster child adoptions in the state have failed over the past decade.
Fewer than one-third of children in foster care throughout Colorado receive a behavioral health screening within a month of enrolling in the state’s Medicaid insurance program. According to 2020-21 figures from the Colorado Department of Health Policy and Finance. That is despite well-documented concerns that trauma and mental health problems are prevalent among foster children and children adopted from the foster care system.
According to the data, only 15.4% of foster children in Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, and Elbert counties underwent a behavioral health assessment within 30 days of joining the government’s health insurance program. So did her just over 16% of the Western Slope children. Southern Colorado foster children, including Las Animas, Minerals and Alamosa, performed better. In 2020 and her 2021, 33% of children underwent behavioral health assessments on time.
Former foster children are eligible for Medicaid until age 26, regardless of income. Children adopted from the Colorado foster system can remain on Medicaid regardless of adoption income.
Lawmakers on the powerful committee that creates the state budget have expressed concern about the low appraisal rate in 2018. November 18 Public Hearing.
State Senator Rachel Zensinger linked this data to Sun’s findings. The study found that a former foster child and her adoptive parents are failing by state and county systems that are ill-equipped to care for a child with severe trauma.
“Some of these statistics … confirm that,” said Zensinger, an Albada Democrat and chairman of the Joint Budget Committee. “I worry about it.”
Behavioral health checks are important because of the trauma children experience, such as being abused, placed in multiple foster homes, or being adopted and put back into foster care, she said.
If left unaddressed, mental health issues can “worse” and lead to other problems later.
“High rates of substance abuse, high rates of violence, high rates of homelessness and lack of access to education,” she said. “It has such a huge impact on their ability to succeed that if you don’t address it, you’re hurting them.”
Zenzinger I have patronage past legislation To help foster children in Colorado, she said she wasn’t surprised by the low assessment rate. is.
“It’s very important that we’re tracking this,” she added. “We want to ensure that all the needs of children participating in the child welfare system have access to these kinds of, I think, fairly basic supports.”
She also plans to work with the governor’s office on a bill to create a voucher program to help former foster children find homes.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve done so far, but it looks like there’s still a lot of work to do,” she said.
Sybil Kamin, a behavioral therapist who sees foster children in Albada, said child protection caseworkers were often overwhelmed with cases and delayed contact with therapists.
Also, as children move to new foster homes, they may move to different areas of the Medicaid system in Colorado. The Medicaid system has seven regional organizations that license mental health and substance use therapists. This means that you may have to find a new therapist if your children change homes.
On top of that, “there is a general shortage of child providers who specialize in cases of child abuse, neglect and sexual abuse, and even fewer,” said Cummin, who runs Arvada Therapy Solutions. .
Treating a foster child often means more work for the therapist. Not only because their mental health needs become more acute, but also because therapists must communicate with caseworkers, court-appointed guardians, foster parents, and biological parents.
Loren Ferguson, a conifer therapist who has worked with about 25 foster children in the past five years, said finding a therapist on Medicaid and without long waiting lists is even harder in rural areas. I’m here. She said timelines are very important because children who have experienced a “grave, traumatic, life-changing event” often need someone to help them process it. rice field.
“The sooner they can support their emotional and mental health needs, the better,” she said.
Over the past decade, nearly 1,100 children adopted from Colorado foster homes have returned to the adoption system. Child welfare officials say behavioral problems are the main reason adoptions fail. And parents, who are often made to feel like monsters, say they ended adoption because they couldn’t find help.
“I shout out to those who will listen. Teachers. Therapists. Somebody help me. Somebody help my kids, my family. We need help,” one mother said.
Some children adopted from the foster care system have been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder manifesting in behaviors such as stealing, lying, manipulating, and resisting parental affection while being affectionate towards strangers. A shortage of therapists who can treat the disorder may be contributing to the collapse of adoptions, parents told The Sun.
More broadly, the lack of medical providers who accept Medicaid is a common complaint among adoptive families.of The Joint Budget Committee has heard continuing concerns this fall. About the “flaws” of the Medicaid Provider Network.
Access to health care providers is “a big problem, especially in rural areas,” said Stephanie Holsinger, Montrose County Adult and Child Protective Services program manager, earlier this month.
Health care providers who accept Medicaid should: High administrative burden due to participation in government programsand low reimbursable fees for providing care.
