Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital administrators, Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), and guests today celebrated receiving $4 million in the 2022-23 state budget for a program to offer individualized physical and mental care to abused foster children in the Inland Empire. Ramos and Ochoa Bogh worked to secure the funding.
In the hospital’s budget request to lawmakers, clinic staff wrote that they expected to see children with abusive head trauma, inflicted burns, fractures, abdominal injury, child sexual assault, medical child abuse, and severe neglect. A multidisciplinary care model will offer personalized pediatric treatment based on the child’s needs including developmental and nutritional assessments, dental evaluations, hearing and vision screenings, vaccinations, and routine care. Speech and physical therapy as well as other allied healthcare evaluations would also be performed.
San Bernardino County has the second largest number of foster youth in California but no system of coordinated medical care for their children – meaning their medical care does not follow them. The Resiliency Institute for Childhood Adversity program will provide continuity of care for a population that is highly vulnerable, transient, and too often lacking consistent access to medical care and emotional support.
Ramos said, “This clinic will offer foster children who have suffered unspeakable abuse the individualized, consistent care they need so they can thrive tomorrow without the shadows of the past. We must do all we can now to mitigate and heal the physical and emotional trauma in their lives. The treatment received at the clinic can prevent additional injury and pain in their lives – both in the short term and long term.”
“This funding will make a significant difference in the lives and health of our region’s most vulnerable children,” said Trevor Wright, CEO of Loma Linda University Health Hospitals. “We will now be able to continue to provide mental health and physical care to youth who often fall through the cracks of the system. We deeply appreciate the efforts of James Ramos and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh and their work to get this funding into this year’s California budget.”
Bogh stated, “Childhood is the most precious and vulnerable time in a person's life. When a home or a family falls short of meeting a child's needs, and trauma occurs, we must ensure the best resources and care are available to help effectively navigate the outcomes of such experiences. I am grateful for the collaborative efforts of local law enforcement, various funding agencies, legal systems, the SAC Health system, and Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. I am also thankful for my colleague Assemblymember James Ramos and his support of this issue.”
Ramos added that today’s celebration was especially meaningful because he learned last night that the governor signed AB 2317 a measure to create, license, and regulate psychiatric crisis residential treatment for children and youth. “Providing children the physical and mental health treatment and other support they need, is our critical responsibility. It is exciting and gratifying to be a part of fulfilling this obligation,” Ramos stated.