Health care for Kane Co. foster children in limbo

Kane County’s foster children are still waiting for a permanent place to receive health care services two months after county officials moved the program to the private sector.

Until last November, Kane County ran the local version of the HealthWorks program. The program provided comprehensive health care to all foster children from birth to age 21. The program also assures all foster children receive a comprehensive health evaluation within 21 days of entry into state custody. The evaluation determines the child’s medical, mental and behavioral needs.

Losing direct county oversight of those services was one of the main causes of concern for foster parents and local doctors who spoke out against the county layoffs.

Aunt Martha’s Youth Service was supposed to take over the program in November when the county decided to lay off half the county health department. But Paul Kuehnert, executive director of the department, said Tuesday that still hasn’t happened.

“I’m very disappointed,” Kuehnert said. “And I’m sure the state is disappointed it’s taking as long as it is.”

Kuehnert said two big changes created a backlog in processing the contract. First, the state transitioned the HealthWorks program from control under the umbrella of the Department of Human Services to control by the Department of Children and Family Services. Second, Aunt Martha’s decided to partner with another provider to handle the foster children case log.

Kuehnert said both the state and Aunt Martha’s are promising completion of the transition “any day now.” In the interim, foster children are receiving health services directly from the state. That will be a problem if it goes on too long, Kuehnert said.

“It’s not ideal,” Kuehnert said. “They don’t really have the staff to provide service directly to county residents. But my understanding is there is currently no gap in services.”