R: Child Welfare Policies regarding HIV and AIDS

["Oddone Virginio" <oddovir@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since 1986, the Juvenile Court of Turin (Italy), which deals with all
adoption and care orders for cases of child abuse & neglect (as well as
with all forms of criminal behavior by children until the age of 18) in the
regions of Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta (in Northwestern Italy; in all, about
4.500.000 inhabitants), has a three-track (medical, social, psychological)
protocol for preliminary screening of adoptive parent applicants. The
medical track provides for a number of checks, comprising also
infectivological testing for HCV, HBV, siphylis, HIV. I prepared it, upon
request from the Juvenile Court in 1986, after a number of cases in which
one of the adoptive parents died for cancer or other very serious illness
very soon after receiving the child (two prospective fathers died within
six months after filing their application; the wives explained later that
they knew of their conditions, but they asked for an adoptive child "to
help psychologically" their husbands). Couples with one or both members
having a very serious disease are subjected to further medical evaluation;
the basic medico-legal standard I set (and the Court accepted) is that of
"efficient survival" for the time needed to bring the adopted child until
so-called "majority age" (18 years). There have been changes in policy,
according to changes in medical technology and survival expectations. For
instance, the Turin's Court of Appeal ruled that a couple in which the
woman had been operated for a serious cardio-aortic defect 5 years before,
and was in good conditions, could be accepted as an adoptive family.

Foster parents applications are treated by the local social services, which
do not ask any medical check of any sort.

As for the HIV testing of children entering foster care, it may be done,
particularly when they go into some form of institution.

General principles about the rights of HIV children were laid down in a
Consensus Conference of the "Gruppo di Studio di Immunologia" of the
Italian Pediatric Society (SIP), may 28 - 30 1992; they took form of a
"Proposal for a charter of the rights of the HIV child", later diffused by
the Istituto Superiore di Sanitˆ (Higher Institute of Health, which is
linked to the Health Ministry of Italy). The italian text was published
first in the Rivista di Immunologia ed Allergologia Pediatrica, october
1992, pp. 39 - 48. Since I chaired the group who prepared the original
draft, I prepared an year later an english translation, for a meeting in
Torgiano (Italy) - alas, it isn't too good.

Virginio

 ***********
Virginio Oddone, MD
V. Avogadro 6
10121 - Torino (Italy)
Tel. and fax: +39.011.5628528
e-mail: oddovir@ipsnet.it

----------
Da: Kathy Belew <kathy@familypreservation.com>
A: Child Maltreatment Researchers  
<CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
Oggetto: Child Welfare Policies regarding HIV and AIDS
Data: luned“ 20 settembre 1999 17.01

We at SC Department of Social Services are interested in any information
available about:

        1.  other state child welfare policies regarding HIV and AIDS,
especially in regard to 
      testing children coming into foster care as well as foster and
adoptive parent applicants. 

        2.  Medical information which is required by other states for
foster and adoptive parent applicants. 
    
Thank you for your time,

Kathy Belew, MSW, MPH
SC DSS