Submitter Information

Name: Kamala  Allen
General Comment

From: Kamala Allen [kallen@chcs.org]

Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 12:07 PM

To: ACF CBComments

Subject: FW: Comments on CFSR Federal Register Notice



Importance: High



May 20, 2011



Commissioner Samuels: 



Thank you for the opportunity to comment. My comment is not specific to one of the 
questions posed in the FRN, but speaks to the opportunity to take advantage of this 
revisiting the CFSR to create some accountability for addressing the critical health related 
provisions of Fostering Connections. We know the dismal statistics related to health and 
social outcomes for children in foster care. Fostering Connections seeks to put in place 
mechanisms within the child welfare agency to prevent and ameliorate many of these 
negative outcomes, and my comment relates to this opportunity. 



In light of the requirement for a coordinated health plan and monitoring of medications for 
children in foster care under Fostering Connections, I would recommend that ACF revise the 
CFSR protocol to include the following two items in the family and child well-being domain for 
what the summary of state policy related to Well-Being Outcome 3 should include: 

1. Add to Item 22 (physical health): The state’s plan for the coordination and oversight of 
health services, including mental health and oral health, for children in foster care.

2. Add to Item 22 (mental/behavioral health): The state’s process to monitor medication 
use among children in foster care, particularly psychotropic medication, and respond to 
concerns of inappropriate prescribing? 



Thank you again for the opportunity to comment, 

Kamala D. Allen, MHS