Jan Defusco – Lead Coordinator with Fostering Healthy Children
This month’s featured CONTACT partner is Jan Defusco, the lead coordinator at Fostering Heathy Children, a program of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital that coordinates healthcare for children in foster care. Fostering Healthy Children serves kids from birth to age 12 who are newly taken into care and under the jurisdiction of St. Louis City or County. Children referred to the program receive a comprehensive medical exam within the first 30 days of their placement in foster care. Following the exam, each child is linked with a primary care physician. Staff at Fostering Healthy Children maintain records of each child’s medical history and primary care doctor. Then when children move to a different placement, staff reach out to the new foster parents to provide share their history and other pertinent information. This helps ensure that children have consistent medical care even when they experience multiple out-of-home placements. Program staff also offer concrete resources and support to foster parents and Children’s Division workers, helping them meet the needs of the children in their care.
Ms. Defusco and her colleagues provide resources and referrals to address any psychological, physical, or developmental concerns identified during children’s initial comprehensive exam. Ms. Defusco reports that Project CONTACT has proven helpful in meeting the trauma-related health needs of the children they serve. She is especially pleased that referring to Project CONTACT often helps families begin therapeutic services immediately, rather than languishing on lengthy waitlists. She also appreciates the expertise of Project CONTACT staff. “Even when our referrals to CONTACT haven’t been accepted, it’s been nice to use the expertise of the CAC professionals to help us determine what services might best meet [the children’s] needs,” she says.
When asked for feedback to share with new CONTACT partners, Ms. Defusco advises being persistent. “It sometimes takes a while to get a call back,” she said, noting that she relies on telephone calls rather than the email portal for communication with CONTACT staff. “But it’s nice to hear back when a child is admitted to CONTACT, and to have someone who reaches out to the family to further assess what services would benefit the child, rather than just putting them on a waitlist.” Ms. Defusco notes that Project CONTACT is her team’s number one referral for children who need trauma-focused mental health services.
Editor’s Note:
We’re grateful for all the support from Jan and her colleagues at Fostering Heathy Children. We are in the process of modifying our intake procedures so that our community partners who leave referral messages for our intake team will receive a call-back within one business day.