Direct and Indirect Cost Savings From Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing, Treatment, and Counseling Among Foster Youth.

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention programs can decrease the economic burden of STIs. Foster youth have higher rates of STIs compared with their peers; however, information on direct costs and indirect costs averted by STI testing, treatment, and counseling among foster youth is lacking. METHODS: This study used data from a comprehensive medical center for foster youth over a 3-year study period from July 2017 to June 2020. Direct and indirect costs averted by testing and treatment of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, as well as HIV testing and counseling, were calculated based on formulas developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and adjusted for inflation. RESULTS: Among the 316 youth who received medical services during this time, 206 were sexually active and tested for STIs and/or HIV. Among 121 positive STI test results, 64.5% (n = 78) were positive for chlamydia, 30.6% (n = 37) were positive for gonorrhea, and 5.0% (n = 6) were positive for syphilis. Treatment was provided to all. Overall, $60,049.68 in direct medical costs and $73,956.36 in indirect costs were averted. CONCLUSIONS: Given the rates of STIs among this population and the economic benefit of STI treatment, it is imperative to continue to provide intensive and comprehensive, individualized sexual health care for foster youth. Traditional care management may miss the opportunity to prevent, identify, and treat STIs that comprehensive wraparound care can achieve. This study suggests that comprehensive wraparound care is a cost-effective way to identify, treat, and prevent STIs among foster youth.

Implementation of deinstitutionalization of child care institutions in post-soviet countries: The case of Azerbaijan.

Institutional care has proven to be detrimental for child development. This study examined the status of the State Program on Deinstitutionalization and Alternative Care (SPDAC), a public policy aimed at transforming 55 institutions covering 14,500 children during 2006-2016 in Azerbaijan. The success of this public policy was crucial for the country's entire child welfare system. The study used a crosssectional, descriptive, exploratory, and qualitative method. Data were collected through in-depth, semistructured interviews and archival resources. Twenty key informants were selected through a purposive sampling strategy. They led projects or were heads of departments related to implementing the SPDAC at government agencies, national or international nongovernmental organizations, UNICEF, or as social workers in newly established alternative services. Interviews were analyzed in TAMSAnalyzer. Themes supporting possible explanations such as lack of political will, weak child protection systems, weak civil society, illequipped human resources, absence of alternative services, and low levels of knowledge of children's rights emerged in the analysis. The findings could contribute to research on child welfare reform and reflect hidden factors behind policies to guide practice in former Soviet Union states and countries rich in natural resources such oil, gas, and minerals. The primary finding of a lack of political will raises the question of how to create political will and how to motivate government officials to invest in the welfare of children.