Unmet needs: Critics cite failures in health care for vulnerable foster children

Lisa Rager knows well the hurdles to obtaining services for foster kids. She and her husband, Wes, have cared for more than 100 foster children and adopted 11 of them, many of whom are pictured. Rager says one child waited more than a year for an appointment to see a specialist doctor. (Andy Miller/KHN)

This story was provided by WABE content partner Kaiser Health News.

One night last month, a 9-year-old boy who had autism and talked about killing himself was among about 70 foster care children and youth under state supervision sleeping in hotels across Georgia.

Georgia’s designated health insurer for foster care, Amerigroup Community Care, had denied the boy placement in a psychiatric residential treatment facility, said Audrey Brannen, coordinator of complex care for Georgia’s child welfare agency. He stayed in a hotel for more than a month before receiving a temporary emergency placement in a foster home, she said.