CHDP Letter re Realignment

The Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care will be removed from the list of California programs to be realigned to the counties under an agreement between the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the County Welfare Directors Association. The Youth Law Center opposed realignment of the program, which provides public health nurses to coordinate health, mental health, and dental care for children in foster care. Foster care nurses play an important role in protecting the health and safety of children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect, and are the centerpiece of California’s federally mandated health care oversight and coordination plan for children in foster care. The Executive Committee of the Child Health & Disability Prevention Program also opposed realignment of the program.