Abstract
Providing comprehensive healthcare to children in foster care can be challenging. Youth placed in foster care are a vulnerable population of patients who often have complex trauma histories and chronic healthcare needs that are further compounded by fragmented and transient healthcare. With an estimated 368,000 children in foster care in the US in 2022 based on the most recently available national data, it is critical for providers to understand the challenges associated with providing care to this population and to know how to address them. This discussion provides healthcare providers with a practical, trauma-informed guide to caring for youth in foster care rooted in evidence-based practice and current guidelines.