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Forensic and Medical Care for Children |
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 The long-term well being of children is paramount to everything VIP does. We want to reduce the number of children in foster care by providing each child appropriate assessments linked to forensic evaluations at the time they are injured or removed from their homes. At the same time we want to help keep children safe who have to stay in the foster care system and help accelerate their progress. We do this by ensuring them ongoing treatment, case management and wrap-around services appropriate to each child; focusing on early identification of medical and mental health problems and any environment that could put them at risk for re-abuse; reducing the need for more intensive or costly services, such as hospitalization; expanding their support networks; and formulating a safety plan for each child.
VIP’s Community-Based Assessment and Treatment Center (CATC) is a full service medical clinic staffed with health care professionals trained in identifying and treating child abuse cases. CATC serves children ages 0-18 under DCFS supervision, children who are at heightened risk for abuse, re-abuse and neglect, including those with complex medical or psychiatric problems that require special treatment and monitoring. CATC provides 24-hour/7-day a week forensic and medical evaluations for any child who may have been abused. Services include:
- Forensic evaluations including photo-documentation and evidence collection
- Comprehensive medical evaluation and treatment including follow-up care
- STD and pregnancy prophylaxis
- Forensic Interviews with a trained psychologist
- Coordination with law enforcement, courts, and social services
- Well-child physicals and immunizations for children in foster care
- Vision and hearing screening
- Same-day/next-day sick visits for children in foster care
- Developmental screening and referrals
- Nutritional evaluations
- Health and parenting education
- Dental screening and referrals
- Mental health intake screening
- Case management and advocacy services
- 24-hour crisis intervention
- On-site Department of Children and Family Service workers
- Court consultation
- Subspecialty consultations and services through LAC+USC Medical Center
CATC is one of five HUBs in Los Angeles County. The HUBs are mandated to provide medical and forensic services to all children who have been or are at-risk of being removed from unsafe homes by the Department of Children and Family Services. As the prototype site for the system, VIP's HUB remains the busiest. VIP fills a much needed role by providing foster children and abuse victims with a "medical home.” Children have access to services ranging from immunizations to neurological exams. And since many children are often removed from unsafe homes in the middle of the night, we extended our hours to accommodate weekend and after hour medical visits. We want to do all that we can to increase a child’s ability to thrive, therefore we also provide intervention education and subspecialty services in treating, identifying and preventing developmental delays related to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
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