Children With HIV Infection

Your article on the status of children with HIV infection and AIDS in Los Angeles County was quite timely (“Center Is Young AIDS Patients’ Only Home,” Metro, May 30) and accurately describes the status of children with this particular illness. However, it should be mentioned that the high majority of new cases of children at risk for HIV and AIDS will be within the Latino and African-American communities in Los Angeles, where support services for persons with HIV disease are severely lacking. Additionally, a tremendous burden on our foster care system will also occur due to many “orphans” of the AIDS crisis--children born to infected mothers but who themselves will not be HIV-infected.

The Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Network (LAPAN) has provided numerous support services for families for the past three years, including extensive HIV education to foster parents who care for children with special health care needs. Due to fears primarily surrounding transmission, the majority of these families are currently unwilling to provide care to HIV-infected children.

Over the past six years, it has been my privilege to work with many dedicated foster parents who have accepted these children into their homes and provided them with a loving, nurturing family. My only fear is that as the numbers of HIV-infected and at-risk children increase and as parents become ill, foster homes will be more difficult to locate. At this stage of the epidemic, a complacent approach to these concerns in Los Angeles could result in a potential disaster.

MARCY KAPLAN

Project Manager

Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Network