A broad-based concept of care coordination is especially relevant for foster care families, whose needs may involve multiple systems of care, such as public health, child welfare, mental health, schools, and juvenile justice. Structure of managed care systems. This study has highlighted the special needs of the foster care population, especially the need for behavioral healthcare services. Because children in foster care represent only 1 to 3 percent of the child Medicaid population, policymakers may lose sight of their needs when designing programs for the larger and more visible Medicaid populations. This study has taken a first step to document differences across states.
Further research is required to explain the differences.
Extent of unmet need. We cannot tell from claims data whether variations in the level of utilization are due to overutilization in some groups or underutilization in others. Without external benchmarks against which to evaluate patterns of care, together with more detailed clinical assessments, we cannot tell whether lower rates of utilization are indicative of access barriers or simply lower health care needs. To gain a better understanding of unmet needs in the foster care population, policymakers and researchers might consider performing a medical records review or conducting a survey of foster care families and caseworkers. Although this is an improvement over previous studies that focused on a single state, the results cannot be generalized to all states or to the nation as a whole.