Foster care was designed to provide temporary, nurturing environments to children
while their caregivers (usually birth parents) receive services to help them facilitate
eventual reunification. The number of children in foster care in the United States
has been steadily increasing in the past 2 decades with more than 500,000 children
in care on any given day [
1
,
2
,
3
]. However, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Adoption and
Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), there has been a gradual decline
in numbers since fiscal year (FY) 2007. In AFCARS Report #17, an estimated 424,000
children were in foster care in the United States on September 30, 2009. Since 2007,
the number of foster children exiting the system has been greater than those entering.
Overall, the number of children in foster care has declined to its lowest level since
2002, and the number of adoptions has increased to its highest level [
1
,
4
]. The recent trend has been to (1) attempt to keep children with their birth families
while providing family preservation services, (2) push for more timely reunification
of families, and (3) commence concurrent planning early with the aim of expediting
termination of parental rights and permanency preparation in cases where reunification
is not possible [
5
,
6
]. Despite this progress, there still are a large number of children in foster care
who require quality health care assessments, treatment, and close monitoring.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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