Improving health services for foster youth: Multidisciplinary and multistakeholder perspectives and recommendations

Children in foster care exhibit physical health problems at alarming rates. Moreover, these problems are frequently undiagnosed before entry into foster and too often go untreated while in foster care. To address the inadequate system of health care for foster children, a multidisciplinary summit was held in Los Angeles, California. In addition to synthesizing the literature related to health care for foster children, this article analyzes information collected at the summit, including information on health needs of foster children, barriers to health services and recommendations for improving health services to foster youth.