Fattman: Mass. foster children need 'electronic backpacks'
Foster children in Massachusetts run a greater risk of having incomplete medical records, receiving duplicate immunizations and being more frequently misdiagnosed, according to a senator pressing for "electronic backpack" legislation.
Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Webster) told the Children and Families Committee Tuesday that foster children are transit and would benefit from records that would follow them as they move from one community to another and one school district to another. The records, he said, are important to ensure their health care needs are met and to make sure they have information needed to eventually apply for jobs and college.
Fattman said he did not know how much his bill would cost to implement and acknowledged that architects of his proposal would have to address privacy concerns. His bill, cosponsored by Rep. Kevin Kuros (R-Uxbridge), gives the Department of Children and Families one year to create a backpack for each foster student while working with state education officials and the Office of the Child Advocate.
Foster children are cared for by families after officials are unable to place them with extended family members after they are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect, unsafe or dangerous conditions.
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