USA: Many children of HIV-positive parents are not in their custody

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Many children of HIV-positive parents are not in their custody Child

Health News, Published: Tuesday, 8-May-2007

A new joint study by UCLA and the Rand Corp. shows that more than

half of children with an HIV-infected parent are not consistently in

that parent's custody.

Researchers found that during the two-year study period, 42 percent

of children were not in the HIV-infected parent's custody at any

time.

The research is the first to use data from a nationally

representative sample of people in care for HIV infection to

investigate the custody status of children. The findings will be

presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies

in Toronto on May 7.

" Children of HIV-infected parents are at risk for behavioral and

emotional problems. A stable home may help these children and their

parents cope with the effects of HIV on the family, " said lead

author Burt Cowgill, M.P.H., a doctoral candidate in the department

of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health and a

researcher at the UCLA/Rand Center for Adolescent Health

Promotion. " By understanding whether children of HIV-infected

parents remain in their parent's custody, pediatricians and other

physicians may be able to help families address custody issues and

offer referrals to social services. "

Cowgill added that pediatricians may also want to suggest that HIV-

infected parents include future custodians in their children's

doctor visits so that these individuals are familiar with the

physical and mental health needs of the children.

Using data from the Rand Corp.'s HIV Cost and Services Utilization

Study, the team investigated whether HIV-infected parents had

maintained custody of their children during the two-year period from

1996 to 1998. They found that 47 percent of children remained in the

custody of an HIV-infected parent, while 42 percent were not in the

parent's custody at any time. The remaining 11 percent were out of

their parent's custody at some time during the study period.

HIV-infected fathers, parents with more advanced HIV disease, drug-

using parents and parents with at least one hospital stay were less

likely to have custody of their children.

A child's other biological parent or other family members

(grandparents, aunts/uncles) were most likely to be the alternate

custodian. Parents cited drug use (62 percent) and financial

hardship (27 percent) most often as reasons for losing custody of

their children. Only 10 percent of HIV-infected parents mentioned

the effects of HIV/AIDS as a reason for not maintaining custody of

their children.

" Improved treatments for HIV have enabled many HIV-infected parents

to live longer. Parents continue to face obstacles that can affect

their ability to maintain custody of their children, including

financial hardship, ongoing drug use, and the effects of HIV/AIDS

and medications used during treatment, " said the study's primary

investigator, Dr. Mark Schuster, professor of pediatrics and public

health at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director

of health promotion and disease prevention at RAND.

http://www.ucla.edu

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=24861