Fostering Health

The AAP Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and youth in foster care, kinship care, and those who have been adopted.​Camille Broussard, MD, MPH, FAAP is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is a public health-trained and board-certified pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and addiction medicine specialist and practices pediatric primary care at Annapolis Pediatrics in Maryland.Kristine Fortin, MD, MPH completed her residency in pediatrics at Sainte-Justine Hospital affiliated with the Université de Montréal, a fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics at Hasbro Children's Hospital, and a Master of Public Health at Brown University. Dr. Fortin is currently an attending physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. She serves as the medical director of CHOP's Fostering Health Program. Dr. Fortin served on the executive committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care Adoption and Kinship care from 2019-2025.Mary V. Greiner, MD, MS is a child abuse pediatrician and the Medical Director of the Comprehensive Health Evaluations for Cincinnati's Kids (CHECK) Foster Care Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She is a professor with tenure in the University of Cincinnati Department of Pediatrics. Since founding the CHECK Center in 2012, Dr. Greiner has focused on working across systems to develop a healthcare model for comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for children with child welfare involvement from birth through young adulthood. Her research explores health risks and evaluates innovative solutions to improve outcomes for these youth. Dr. Greiner also serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Foster Care, Adoption, and Kinship Care.Moira Szilagyi, MD, PhD, FAAP is a past President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), primary care pediatrician, Professor of Pediatrics, Division Chief of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, and Interim Division Chief of General Pediatrics at UCLA where she is also the Peter Shapiro Term Chair for Enhancing Children's Developmental and Behavioral Health in Pediatrics. Dr. Szilagyi was Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester from 1990 to 2014 and Medical Director of Starlight Pediatrics, an integrated-care medical home for children in foster/kinship care. Her broad experience includes primary care for vulnerable populations, suburban private practice, education of trainees, leadership of several multi-system collaborative partnerships to improve care for vulnerable children, research on evidence-based screening and the integration of mental health into primary care, and a long history of advocacy at the federal, state and local levels. Dr. Szilagyi has held numerous AAP leadership positions, chairing the AAP NY-District II Task Force on Foster Care and the national Council on Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care. She is Co-Medical Director of the AAP National Center for Relational Health and Trauma-Informed Care, senior editor of Fostering Health (the manual for providers and systems), and has authored several AAP policy statements and clinical and technical reports on child welfare-involved children. She is Principal Investigator of an AAP case-based online educational program to help pediatricians integrate trauma-informed care into practice. Dr. Szilagyi sees patients in L.A. County's foster care system.

• Part 1. Health Care Practice ParametersChapter 1. Core Components: A General OverviewChapter 2. Health Care Visits: Type and PeriodicityChapter 3. Medical Home ReadinessChapter 4. Emergency Department and Inpatient Care: Practice ReadinessChapter 5. Specialty Care: Practice ReadinessChapter 6. Staff Training and ResourcesChapter 7. Care Coordination and Case ManagementChapter 8. Integrated Models of CareChapter 9. Sexual and Reproductive Health CareChapter 10. Assessing Risk and Protective FactorsChapter 11. ScreeningsChapter 12. Mental HealthChapter 13. Developmental and Educational IssuesChapter 14. Oral HealthChapter 15. Measuring Health Care OutcomesPart 2. Culture of Foster CareChapter 16. History of Child Welfare in the United States and Issues of Disproportionality, Inequity, and InjusticeChapter 17. Childhood Trauma and ResilienceChapter 18. Out-of-Home PlacementsChapter 19. Factors Associated With Placement Stability and Permanency OutcomesPart 3. Adolescent-Specific IssuesChapter 20. Transition-Age YouthChapter 21. Substance UseChapter 22. Pregnant and Parenting TeensChapter 23. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of ChildrenChapter 24. Youth Who Have Run From Their Living Situation or Are Missing From CareChapter 25. Youth With Dual Involvement in the Justice and Child Welfare SystemsPart 4. Additional Considerations for Specific PopulationsChapter 26. American Indian and Alaska Native YouthChapter 27. Children and Youth Who Identify as LGBTQ Chapter 28. Additional Considerations for Transgender and Gender Diverse Children and YouthChapter 29. Children Exposed to Substances in PregnancyChapter 30. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Identification and InterventionChapter 31. Children With Medical ComplexityChapter 32. Children and Youth Living With or Affected by HIVChapter 33. Unaccompanied Immigrant YouthPart 5. Additional Health Care Delivery ConsiderationsChapter 34. Medical ConsentsChapter 35. Supports for Foster and Kinship Caregivers and Families of OriginChapter 36. Privatization of Child WelfareChapter 37. Health Care FinancingChapter 38. Psychotropic Medication OversightChapter 39. Improving Care, Expanding the FieldPart 6. Cross-Systems CollaborationChapter 40. Systems Involved in the Life of a Child in Foster Care: An OverviewChapter 41. Privacy and Information SharingPart 7. Legislation, Policy, and AdvocacyChapter 42. Advocacy and Public Policy