BILLINGS — Children in foster care face uncertainties throughout their lives, but the Lighthouse Foster Clinic Program at Billings Clinic is designed to ensure healthcare for kids like Ryan Alden, isn’t one of them.
The two-and-a-half-year-old has faced more challenges than most face in a lifetime.
"Ryan was a meth baby at birth," said Sarah Alden, Ryan's adoptive mother, on Wednesday.
Ryan’s exposure to meth while his mother was pregnant carries a lot of trauma.
It's trauma that his parents and her family have spent Ryan's life trying to navigate.
Sarah and her husband have eight kids altogether, three biological, three adopted and two still in foster care.
"We had never experienced that. So, for us it was a really big learning curve. And just trying to figure out, what does this baby need? What medical needs do we have, and it even turned into what development needs he needed," added Alden.
That's where the Lighthouse Foster Clinic Program at Billings Clinic comes in.
"This program has been amazing for us because when you get foster kids, you don’t usually have a lot of background. The case workers don’t usually have a lot of medical background," Alden added.
The program was founded in 2021 by pediatrician Dr. Matthew McDonald.
"We see kids in briefer time slots for well-checks. Kids that are in foster care deserve more time. And they deserve more attention and realization that they are in care," said McDonald.
Foster children in the program have faster access to healthcare, meaning instead of sometimes waiting two to three months to be seen, they're seen in just a couple of days or a few weeks at most.
"On a weekly basis, every single week, we have appointments that are reserved for children that are in foster care," said McDonald.
The program is also very proactive about tracking down medical records for kids who may not have them readily available. The kids also see can see the same doctor, while in and out of foster care.
"Seeing a kid in foster care's face light up when you walk into a room is wonderful. They are a child who is in the midst of a lot of fear and so, if you can see a face light up in the midst of that fear, that’s really encouraging," McDonald added.
Children like Ryan, dealing with trauma and in need of stability.
"The connection is huge for the fact that most of our foster kids don’t have very positive connections to adults. So, when you walk into the doctor’s office, they’re like 'nope, no thanks.' And they want to freak out and run. It’s always so inviting in the Lighthouse program and it's great for these kids," Alden added.
