Child Welfare agencies and Medicaid programs can collaborate to reduce these costs and improve health outcomes for children. To learn more about these opportunities and examples of successful collaboration go to http://www.publicconsultinggroup.com/landingpage/ white_papers/approaches.html
THE REAL COST OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT July 2014
1.5X
Average behavioral and physical health expenditures for children in foster care are much higher than other similar Medicaid peers:
Children investigated by the welfare system have been found to have 1.5X more chronic health conditions than the general population.
$10,000 $9,000
Children in foster care who are prescribed psychotropic medication are more likely than other Medicaid children to receive multiple medications.
49%
$8,094
$8,000
prescribed 2+
$7,000 $6,000 $5,000
$4,868
$4,036 $3,652
$4,000 $3,000
Over 28% of children involved with maltreatment investigations are diagnosed with chronic health conditions during the three years following the investigation.
20% prescribed 3+
$2,000 $1,000
Behavioral
Physical
All Children
Behavioral
Physical
Foster Children
Children in foster care represent just 3% of the Medicaid child population, but account for 15% of those using behavioral health services, and 29% of total behavioral health spending for children.
Impacted Brain Development • Effect of Trauma and Toxic Stress on Executive Function • Abusive Head Trauma • Mental Health Disorders • Lack of Cognitive/ Language Abilities
3%
15%
29%
Decreased Physical Health • Poorer Lung Functioning • High Risk of Liver Disease • Delayed Body Development
Children with maltreatment reports have a 74-100% higher risk of hospital treatment.
The estimated lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment is over $200,000, which includes $32,648 in childhood health care costs.
Sources: 1 Chronic Conditions Among Children Investigated by Child Welfare: A National Sample. February 18, 2013; Pediatrics - Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics 2 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), (42 U.S.C.A SSA5106g) 3 Child Maltreatment and Pediatric Health Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of Low-Income Children. June 2010; Journal of Pediatric Psychology 4 The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, February 2012, Volume 36, Issue 2 5 Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation [ACF/OPRE], 2007. 6 Pires, SA, Grimes, KE, Allen, KD, Gilmer, T, Mahadevan, RM. 2013. Faces of Medicaid: Examining Children’s Behavioral Health Service Utilization and Expenditures. Center for Health Care Strategies: Hamilton, NJ