The market for foster care: an empirical study of the impact of foster care subsidies

When parents are suspected of child abuse or neglect, their children may be placed with foster families. We estimate the relationship between the monthly subsidies paid to foster families and the quantity of foster care services provided. The empirical model uses variation in subsidies and foster care populations within 37 states and the years 1987–1995. One innovation in our approach is that we exploit the idea that states do not appear to set market clearing rates, as evidenced by a foster home shortage during this time period. In this case of excess demand, variation in the monthly subsidy traces out the supply curve. Our results show that states with high demand may be able to use economic incentives to recruit foster families.

Causal effects of foster care: An instrumental-variables approach

This paper describes the use of instrumental-variables (IV) to estimate causal effects of foster care on long- and short-term outcomes. This estimation strategy provides a tool to evaluate what are known as “natural experiments”: settings that mimic randomization usually associated with a controlled trial. The proposed natural experiment involves the effective randomization of investigators to child-protection cases. The results suggest that foster care placement increases like likelihood of delinquency and emergency healthcare episodes. Care must be taken when interpreting IV estimates. The results apply to cases that are part of the natural experiment—“marginal cases” where the investigators may disagree about the placement recommendation.     

Underserved parents,underserved youth: Considering foster parent willingness to foster substance-using adolescents

Adolescents involved with foster care are five times more likely to receive a drug dependence diagnosis when compared to adolescents in the general population. Prior research has shown that substance use is often hidden from providers, negating any chance for treatment and almost guaranteeing poor post-foster care outcomes. There are virtually no studies that examine the willingness (and its determinants) to foster youth with substance abuse problems. The current study conducted a nationally-distributed survey of 752 currently licensed foster care parents that assessed willingness to foster youth overall and by type of drug used, and possible correlates of this decision (e.g., home factors, system factors, and individual foster parent factors such as ratings of perceived difficulty in fostering this population). Overall, willingness to foster a youth involved with alcohol and other drugs (AOD) was contingent upon the types of drugs used. The odds that a parent would foster an AOD-involved youth were significantly increased by being licensed as a treatment foster home, having fostered an AOD-involved youth in the past, having AOD-specific training and past agency-support when needed, and self-efficacy with respect to positive impact. Surprisingly, when religion played a large part in the decision to foster any child, the odds of willingness to foster an AOD-involved youth dropped significantly. These results suggest that a large proportion of AOD-involved youth who find themselves in the foster care system will not have foster families willing to parent them, thereby forcing placement into a variety of congregate care facilities (e.g., residential treatment facilities, group homes). Specific ways in which the system can address these issues to improve placement and permanency efforts are provided.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Mothers of children in foster care

This article introduces the special issue of Children and Youth Services Review devoted to single mothers with children in foster care. It delineates the policy context in which mothers are operating; examines reasons for mothers' temporary loss of custody of their children, a loss that occurs when their children are placed in foster care; presents expectations of mothers once they enter the public child welfare system; and summarizes empirical and theoretical papers included in the volume intended to advance policy and practice for this population. Taken together, these papers reflect one over-arching theme—the need to re-orient child welfare policy and practice so that the rehabilitation, health, and well-being of mothers is one of the central aims.     

The relationship between extracurricular activities and delinquency of adolescents in foster care

This study examined the relationships between involvement in extracurricular activities and delinquency for adolescents in foster care. Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a subsample of adolescents (n = 117) in long-term foster care was the focus of this study. Contrary to the hypotheses, results indicated that greater involvement in extracurricular activities was associated with higher levels of delinquency. Further analyses revealed that the type of placement and closeness with caregiver predicted delinquency above and beyond the frequency of participation in extracurricular activities. Implications are discussed.     

Disproportionality in education and employment outcomes of adult foster care alumni

Racial similarities and disparities in the education and employment of 134 African American and 574 White adults placed in foster care as children were examined. Logistic regression was used to compare differences among these young adult alumni who were served by a voluntary foster care agency in 23 U.S. communities. When controlling for demographic background, risk factors, and foster care experiences, race/ethnicity was a significant factor only in the increased odds of White alumni having income at or above poverty level, three times poverty level, and home/apartment ownership compared to African Americans.     

The impact of foster care privatization on multiple placements

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of foster care privatization policy on multiple placements in Florida's foster care system. A variant of the interrupted time series design allowed for an assessment of privatization policy within 282 data points (six years of data nested in 47 counties). Results from hierarchical linear analysis models identified a significant effect for privatization while controlling for a major alternative explanation. Specifically, the percent of children in fewer than three placements was significantly lower in the post-privatization years than in the pre-privatization years. This effect varied across counties. Line graphs revealed a variety of trends among providers, which may explain the variation of privatization's effect across counties. These results have implications for policymakers seeking to address the goal of permanence and for child welfare administrators involved in the implementation of privatization policy.     

Readiness for college engagement among students who have aged out of foster care

This study compares self-reported readiness to engage in college between a sample of 81 college freshmen who aged out of foster care prior to or while attending a large four-year public university and the national freshman population. Results indicate that students from foster care are significantly different from their non-foster-care peers in their readiness to engage in college. The results also show that foster youth are less well prepared academically upon entering college and this performance gap persists through the first semester of college. These findings are examined in the context of the current literature on foster youth. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

South African social workers' knowledge of attachment theory and their perceptions of attachment relationships in foster care supervision

Despite the prominence of attachment theory in international foster care literature and the importance of attachment relationships in successful foster care, attachment theory and practices do not feature prominently in South African foster care research. Against this backdrop, we interviewed twenty South African social workers' about their knowledge of attachment theory and their perceptions of attachment relationships in their own foster care work. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interviews. We found that the social workers had limited knowledge of attachment theory and interventions; experienced most biological parents as unmotivated to improve their circumstances and attachment relationships with children; indicated that family reunifications were rare occurrences; reported foster parents were mostly kin; and experienced constraining contextual factors that hindered optimal consideration of attachment relationships in foster care supervision.     

Educational and employment outcomes of adults formerly placed in foster care: Results from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

This study evaluated the intermediate and long-term effects of family foster care on adult functioning using a sample of 659 young adults from two public and one private child welfare agencies, case record reviews, structured interviews, and a survey response rate of 76%. Foster care alumni completed high school at a rate comparable to the general population, but a disproportionately high number of them completed high school via a GED. Alumni completion rates for postsecondary education were low. Consequently, many alumni were in fragile economic situations: one-third of the alumni had household incomes at or below the poverty level, one-third had no health insurance, and more than one in five experienced homelessness after leaving foster care. Two foster care experience areas were estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes in the Education outcome domain: positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications), and having broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care). For the Employment and Finances outcome domain, receiving broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care) was estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes.     

Socioemotional characteristics of minors in foster care: A comparison between the estimation of parents,teachers and children

During the child's first few years, it's of fundamental importance the presence of a strong emotional base as long as it creates the possibility to open themselves to physical and social world with confidence, and as it acts as a facilitator of cognitive development. For this reason, if the family cannot ensure such base, social services are forced to resort to foster care, a resource that has a lot of difficulties, leading to different implications in the development of the child and of the foster family. It is therefore important to analyze in depth the socio-emotional variables that characterize children who are in a situation of foster care in order to provide adequate assistance to optimize their development. For this 32 minors in foster care, 31 foster parents and 28 teachers from the city of Valencia, were administered the BASC. The results highlight that parents are evaluating children, in general, worse than tutors. Specifically they consider children more aggressive, they detect more behavioral and attention problems and recognize in them a greater tendency to externalize the problems, while the teachers consider these children as with more social and adaptive skills. There were no significant differences between the scores of parents, teachers and children. High levels of psychopathology (which are clinically significant in various cases) and the fact that host parents evaluate minors as more problematic, are indicators of parents' and minors' need of support from public organizations.     

The language and policy of care and parenting: Understanding the uncertainty about key players’ roles in foster care provision

Recent debates about the care provided to looked-after children have been characterised by uncertainty about the differing roles and responsibilities of foster carers, birth parents, and social workers. To explore the assumptions underlying these uncertainties, we drew upon Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and compared the discourses used by professionals (social workers in a group discussion about foster placement breakdown) with those used by policy-makers (in the Governmental green paper ‘Care Matters’). In both cases, a discourse based upon Attachment Theory was used to explain why placements succeed and fail, and to predict the repercussions of failure. However, there was a key difference in the way that professionals and policy-makers constructed the roles of key players in foster placements. The social workers constructed the birth parents as the parental figures for children in care, constructing themselves in a non-parental role. ‘Care Matters’ largely ignores the role of birth parents, and instead constructs social workers as parental figures. Neither source viewed foster carers as parental and ‘Care Matters’ positions this group as strictly professional. We discuss the incongruence of foster placements being understood through Attachment Theory, while foster carers are understood as non-parental figures, and also the repercussions of labelling a social worker as a parent, and the professionalization of the role of the foster carer.     

Predictors for resolution of antisocial behavior among foster care youth receiving community-based services

Youth in the foster care system are more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness than those in the general population. Within this system, youth with antisocial behavior (e.g., aggressive, oppositional) are overrepresented. The challenges youth with antisocial behavior present to foster care systems make understanding the factors that predict remission in this population important for improving placement stability. Using Optimal Data Analysis (ODA), this study examines potential moderating effects of various individual, social, and strength variables on clinically significant decreases antisocial behavior in a sample of foster care youth over time. Results revealed positive improvements in youths' wellbeing to be the optimal predictor of resolution, followed by positive changes in family functioning and positive changes in adjustment to trauma (i.e., symptoms of PTSD). These results indicate that clinically significant decreases over time in antisocial behavior were associated with concurrent improvement in individual and environmental variables. Implications for service providers working with this population are discussed.     

Placement preferences among children living in foster or kinship care: A cluster analysis

This research provides a longitudinal assessment regarding children's placement preferences, distinguishing between what children prefer to be permanent home situations and what children expect will be permanent situations. Cluster analysis was used in an effort to classify the responses of 1313 children, ages 6–14, in foster or kinship care, over a three year period, regarding placement preferences. Results of the cluster analyses indicate classification in the following four groups of permanency preferences: 1) I don't want to be here/going home; 2) I can stay here, but I don't want to/going home; 3) I can stay here and I want to, but no adoption; and 4) I can stay here and I want to, with adoption. Findings indicate that across waves of data collection, children express a sense of belonging in their foster homes. Older children were more agreeable to their current placements as long as there was no option of permanency/adoption. Also, White children were more likely to prefer and expect to go home. This research provides great utility in evaluative efforts that include listening to the voices of the children by encouraging their participation in case planning and service evaluation.     

Locating “youth voice:” Considering the contexts of speaking in foster care

Within social services, an increasingly significant movement supports giving “voice” to children and youth, enabling them to express their views and to have those views taken into account in matters that affect them. In this article, the author draws from narratives of young people who grew up in foster care, examining stories of their efforts to impact the course of their own lives. The article explores the ways that very specific contexts and relationships of power shaped the utterances of young people in the foster care system and distorted, muted, or amplified their abilities to express their need and interests. This is a beginning attempt to identify ways that contexts of speaking in foster care can be understood and altered in order to strengthen the capacity of young people to voice their concerns and aspirations.     

Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care

The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country.     

Foster care in India: An exploratory survey of the community perceptions and prospects for implementation of foster care in a developing nation: A study in Udaipur,Rajasthan, India

This study was conducted in order to assess the prospects for implementing foster care as an alternative to the dominant system of institutional care available to orphaned and abandoned children in India. 653 families in urban Udaipur participated in a mixed-methods based assessment of receptivity to foster and adoptive care. The majority of those who responded reported receptivity to the idea of foster care as an alternative to institutional care. However, analyses demonstrated that respondents also perceived barriers to implementing systematic foster care, particularly with regard to family recruitment due to problems securing family and community support for participation. The results are discussed in light of governmental calls for non-governmental organization and other stakeholders to institute alternatives to foster and adoptive care. The results of this study have applied significance for organizations and practitioners seeking to implement care alternatives for orphan and abandoned children in India.     

Predictors of children in foster care being adopted: A classification tree analysis

When returning home is not a viable option, adoption is the primary means by which youth in substitute care achieve permanency. Therefore, understanding the factors that impact adoption is critical to both evaluating and improving the child welfare system. Prior research has mostly studied “main effects” in regard to adoption rates and has not explored the ways in which youth and foster family variables might interact in complex ways to predict adoption. This study uses a classification tree analysis approach known as Optimal Data Analysis (ODA) to predict probability of adoption in 2003 using Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data. 30,000 adopted youth and 30,000 non-adopted youth were randomly selected for participation in the study. Similar to previous studies, univariate analyses revealed that age, foster parent race/ethnicity, foster parent marital status, and number of previous placements all predicted probability of adoption. However, going further, several combinations of individual variables (multivariate ODA) improved prediction accuracy (e.g., age × structure of foster family × number of previous placements). Results also suggested that the impact of the state on adoption rates varied when essentially controlling for youth and family variables, supporting concerns regarding the crude use of AFCARS data when comparing states.     

The outcome of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy among foster care adolescents: The changes of behavior and perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties

Objective

To evaluate the outcome of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy as an individual intervention among foster care adolescents using “traditional” methods of between-group comparison as well as analysis at individual level by assessing reliable and clinically significant change.

Material and methods

The research was conducted at seven foster care homes in Lithuania. Treatment (age average 14.6) and control groups consisted of 46 adolescents each. Control group was similar to the treatment group considering gender, age and pre-treatment evaluation of behavior and perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties. Participants could attend a maximum of 5 sessions. Post-treatment evaluation was conducted 6 weeks after the pre-treatment evaluation. Behavior and perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties were assessed using Standardized Interview for the Evaluation of Adolescents' Problems. The outcome of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy was assessed using the following statistical methods: between group comparisons; effect size (Cohen d with Hedges adjustment), reliable and clinically significant change methods proposed by Jacobson and Truax (1991).

Results

Between-group comparisons revealed that Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is an effective method for reaching positive changes in the area of behavior difficulties among foster care adolescents. 31% of treatment group adolescents reached reliable and clinically significant change in the area of behavior and 29% in the area of perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties. Also, the issue of the necessity of the quantitative criteria allowing decision making about the effectiveness of the treatment at the individual level, when using reliable and clinically significant change method, was raised in the article.