In Arkansas and across the country, Medicaid is an essential support for children and families in the foster care system. Medicaid provides health insurance to nearly all children in foster care and those aging out of foster care. Medicaid’s economic protections and access to services also help families in crisis get the help they need that can prevent children from unnecessary foster care placements.

As Congress considers billions of dollars in spending cuts to Medicaid, a new brief from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF) illustrates Medicaid’s vital role for children and families in foster care:

• Medicaid is a vital source of coverage for children in foster care. Nearly all of the approximately 3,370 children currently in the Arkansas foster care system are covered by some category of Medicaid to ensure their health care needs are met. Medicaid is also an important lifeline for the 7% of youth who age out of the Arkansas foster care system each year.
• Medicaid meets the unique health needs of children in foster care. Nationally, up to three-quarters of children entering care have at least one physical health concern, one-third have a chronic condition, and up to 80% have a significant mental health need. Medicaid’s comprehensive health benefits mean children and youth in foster care can access the services they need to treat physical health issues, chronic conditions, and behavioral and mental health needs.
• Medicaid helps support families in crisis. Medicaid prevents unnecessary foster placements by providing treatment for parents with mental health or substance use disorders. For children who do have to enter foster care, about 42% of them in our state are ultimately reunified with their families. Medicaid plays a vital role in partnering with child welfare programs so parents can access the services they need to heal, and children can return home safely.
• Medicaid helps family caregivers support their children. If a child cannot remain safely in his or her own home, placement with relatives can help reduce the amount of trauma a child experiences when entering foster care. In Arkansas, an average of 40% of children in foster care across the state are placed with relatives or “fictive kin,” meaning someone not related to the child but who already plays a positive and supportive role in that child’s life. Relatives and fictive kin often do not anticipate having children placed in their homes and may have limited financial resources. Medicaid can help eliminate barriers that might otherwise prevent them from providing this care.
• Medicaid helps support adoptive families. Almost 30% of children in foster care exit the system through adoption in Arkansas. However, the trauma children experienced before and during foster care does not disappear on adoption day. Children who are adopted by relatives, fictive kin, or other foster parents can have significant ongoing health needs and depend on Medicaid to help meet those needs.

Medicaid connects children in foster care to services that help them grow, heal, and thrive. Cuts to Medicaid would also mean cutting critical support and services for children in foster care in Arkansas and their families.