Janet Schneiderman, assistant professor of social work, recently won a grant from the Children and Families Research Consortium to examine the issues foster children caregivers face in accessing and using pediatric health services.

"Research indicates children in the public welfare system have significantly more health problems than their counterparts and exhibit a multitude of chronic health problems," Schneiderman said. "We know that access barriers affect use of health services but we do not know how caregivers in the child welfare system rate their own barriers to access and what relation these access barriers have to use of health services."

The study was born out of recommendations from the 2005 Los Angeles Health Care Summit, where 150 child welfare, health and legal professionals identified the need to improve medical services for children under the Dept. of Children and Family Services (DCFS) supervision, beginning with better integration between the health care delivery system and the child welfare system. Participants also stressed the importance of more communication and involvement with caregivers in the delivery of medical care, as they are the link between accessing services and adhering to medical advice.

The $20,000 grant will be used to administer both English and Spanish-language versions of the Pediatric Access Survey to primary caregivers of children 0-18 years of age who attend the Community-Based Assessment and Treatment Center at LAC+USC. Among the data researchers will collect include demographic information, perception of child's health status, access barriers, as well as input about the subject's contact with public health nurses and suggestions for improving care.

Schneiderman anticipates pursuing two additional phases of the research, comparatively analyzing another population and utilizing qualitative data from key influencers in medical, legal and advocacy communities to offer solutions for alleviating the identified barriers to receiving medical care. She will use the results to design a tool for DCFS caseworkers to identify caregivers who need support in accessing medical care.