Another lost child (death mentioned)

I saw this story this morning on our local news. I am not close to this county but the 72 hr check is the same here. [url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pinellas/pinellas-sheriff-calls-for-changes-to-procedures-after-5-year-old-dies-in-foster-care]Pinellas Sheriff calls for changes to procedures after 5 year-old dies in foster care[/url] That poor child :(

Such a terrible thing! Poor baby girl!

I believe the 72 hour check is the same here (not 100% certain because we are not usually involved at that stage of the case). Poor kiddo. ETA: According to the following article, the 72 hour rule is statewide: [url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/pinellas-sheriff-launches-investigation-after-5-year-old-girl-dies-days/1272109]Pinellas sheriff launches investigation after 5-year-old girl dies in foster care - Tampa Bay Times[/url]

We're supposed to get to the doctor within 48 hours. I have had to take kids to the med surg clinics on Saturdays because of that rule. Poor baby.

Yes, I just saw it this morning too, I'm in Pinellas County. So sad! Definitely a lesson learned! That was on a holiday weekend, not sure why they waited until Monday to call-there are after-hours pediatrics clinics open all over Pinellas County who take Medicaid!

That is so sad. We are required to make a dr appointment within 72 hours, but that does not mean the child will be seen within that time. Sometimes the appointment will not be for another week or so because it's so hard to get into see the dr's that take the state medicaid. I don't know what they will do to fix that.

We are only required to have a child seen in the first 30 days! My fks didn't get seen until over that from the original date of removal because of having to cancel th scheduled appointment when they moved to kinship and then were moved back to care...

We have 7 days to get a screening but that's all it is...a screening. It's not exhaustive by any means. We usually don't have a clue about the child's medical background so the doctor looks for obvious problems. So sad though.

with our first placement the investigator told us we didn't need a 72 hr check. I for sure knew we did. I tried and tried to call and get him in where they have to go for the 1st check and they could NOT see him until they had the court papers from the judge. If we would not have pressed and pressed he would have missed the 72 hr check.

I doubt a screening would have caught anything. They usually aren't very intensive. Unless her pupils were dialated strangly or her heart beat was irregular, they'd probably not have caught anything. Sounds like it might have been a brain aneurism - which maybe be cause my drugs, or could be a fluke - things like this happen even to healthy kids in their own homes. I feel very sorry for the foster family and the babysitter though. My aunt lost a foster baby when they were just young, brand new foster parents (and had young kids of their own). The baby had many medical issues, and basically died of a SIDS type issue - but they had to be investigated, they had to go through a lot in court. They were eventually cleared, but that put a permanent mark on their hearts, and they never did foster again. Just having to experience a dead child in your home is enough, but all went along with it nearly devastated them.

we aren't required to take them to the dr at all here to my knowledge. of course, i've only had 2 foster placements so far here. one came from another foster home so they may have had to see a dr when first removed with them. the other placement came from kin. but, they never said anything about having to take them to the dr at all or within a certain amount of time in our training classes.

Our dept takes the kids to the doctor before they are dropped off. There's a dr office a block away. Who knows if a doctor visit would have prevented her death. If she grabbed her head, screamed, and then collapsed and died, it was most likely an aneurysm or blood clot in her brain. A doctor visit wouldn't have prevented it. A kindergarten student in my oldest daughter's class died suddenly like that from a blood clot in her brain. She was watching cartoons on her couch, said her head hurt and died.

I didn't read your post until after I posted mine. You're right to be concerned about the foster parents and babysitter. They may not have known her a long time but it's such a traumatic and life changing event when you watch a child die. The foster parents and babysitter need more prayers than you can imagine.

[QUOTE=mythreesonsjmo]I doubt a screening would have caught anything. They usually aren't very intensive. Unless her pupils were dialated strangly or her heart beat was irregular, they'd probably not have caught anything. Sounds like it might have been a brain aneurism - which maybe be cause my drugs, or could be a fluke - things like this happen even to healthy kids in their own homes. I feel very sorry for the foster family and the babysitter though. [QUOTE] Exactly my thoughts. Very sad :(

That is not a requirement here. However, I do like to get my fosters in to see their dr as soon as possible. That way they can get looked over and I can get any important medical information.