For the Well-Being of Minnesota’s Foster Children: What Federal Legislation Requires

This article will discuss the federal legislation and regulations—ASFA and CFSR—that hold the states accountable for the health and well-being of children and adolescents in foster care. This article will also discuss how the Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program, the comprehensive health care services that states are required to provide through Medicaid, is used to address the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents in foster care. Critical to a discussion on the well-being of foster youth is the Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 that emphasized the states’ responsibility to ensure that youth in foster care have the services and means to make a successful transition from foster care. Finally, this article will describe how CLC’s social workers and lawyers, working as a team, provide holistic representation that advances the health and well-being of the child in foster care.