Prevalence of children with disabilities in the child welfare system and out of home placement: An examination of administrative records

This article explores the prevalence and characteristics of children with disabilities within the child welfare system using administrative data from the State of Minnesota. This study finds that more than a fifth (22%) of children with substantiated maltreatment are labeled in administrative records as having a disability, and more than one quarter of children (27.9%) over age five. The most common type of disability among children with substantiated maltreatment was emotional disturbance, while other common disabilities included intellectual and developmental disabilities and learning disabilities. Using logistic regression, this study finds that children with substantiated maltreatment with disabilities were about two times more likely to be in out of home placement than children with substantiated maltreatment without disabilities.     

An evaluation of the effects of an integrated services program for multi-service use families on child welfare and educational outcomes of children

The purpose of the study was to evaluate a program that provides integrative case management for families dependent on at least two government services (e.g., child welfare, disability, chemical dependency, vocational rehabilitation). In the current study, we focused on effects of services on children's educational and child welfare outcomes two years after program exit. Children enrolled in the program were compared to a community comparison sample through propensity score matching. None of the group differences was significant. However, outcomes related to child maltreatment (number of child maltreatment reports accepted by Child Protective Services and out-of-home placements) improved dramatically within two years after exit. Outcomes in the education area were less uniformly positive. On the one hand, children's attendance was high and school mobility was low. In addition, there was a significant reduction in the number of children receiving special education services two years after exit. Nevertheless, a third of the children were still receiving special education services two years after exit, and their academic performance on standardized reading and math tests was quite poor. Thus, the intensive case management model was related to successful outcomes in an area directly targeted by the program (child maltreatment), but the gains did not generalize to another domain that was not an explicit focus of the program (academic achievement).     

Disentangling over-representation of parents with disabilities in the child welfare system: Exploring child maltreatment risk factors of parents with disabilities

The study explores the risk factors for child maltreatment and self-reported child maltreatment among a population-based sample of parents with disabilities. Drawing on a nationally-representative, population-based data file that oversampled people of color, income-adjusted odds ratio tests were conducted to establish population differences among parents with and without limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs). Results suggest that parents with disabilities were more likely to report many of the risk factors associated with child maltreatment than parents without disabilities, including witnessing interpersonal violence as a child; experiencing violence, neglect or a foster care stay as a child; mood or substance use disorders; and engaging in or receiving interpersonal violence as an adult. Before controlling for income, parents with disabilities had only a negligibly higher rate of engaging in violence against their children. After controlling for income, parents with disabilities were 2.5 times more likely to engage in violence against their children. Parents with disabilities who did engage in violence against their children had greater amounts of some of the child maltreatment risk factors in comparison to parents with disabilities who did not engage in violence, particularly their own childhood experiences of maltreatment, witnessing of interpersonal violence as a child, childhood stays in foster care, and experiences with interpersonal violence as an adult. Findings add to the understanding of the risk factors for child maltreatment that are related to the collateral effects of having a disability, and through the use of income-adjusted data, help disentangle why parents with disabilities are over-represented in the child welfare system. The findings highlight the need for the child welfare system to increase its disability competence in working with both children and parents with disabilities.     

The relationship between child disability and living arrangement in child welfare

The influence of disabilities on placement outcomes was examined for 277 children who were removed from their biological parents due to substantiated maltreatment. Results indicated that children with a disability were less likely to reunify and more likely to reside in nonkin foster care two years later than typical children. Children with cognitive, emotional /behavioral, and physical disabilities were over four times more likely to be permanently living in nonkin foster care than to be reunified.     

What Happens to Foster Kids: Educational Experiences of a Random Sample of Foster Care Youth and a Matched Group of Non-Foster Care Youth

Older youth often “age out” of foster care when they reach 18 or 21. Then what happens to them? How do their educational experiences during and after high school compare with children raised in intact families? This study used existing longitudinal data from 1980 through 1986 to investigate the high school and post high school experiences of a group of foster care youth and a matched group of youth living with at least one parent. The results were unequivocal: the foster youth dropped out of high school at a much higher rate and were significantly less likely to have completed a GED. The foster care high school graduates received significantly less financial assistance for education from their parents or guardians. Foster youth reported more discipline problems in school and experienced more educational disruption due to changing schools. They were significantly less likely to be in a college preparatory high school track. The adults in the lives of the foster care youth were less likely to monitor homework. These findings have important implications for child welfare policy and practice.     

Broadening Our View

Summary

The growth in child welfare caseloads and the increasing use of kinship foster care has raised new questions about effective permanency planning. The majority of children in kinship foster care are children of color and have been less likely to exit the custody of the child welfare system than children placed in traditional foster care. Permanency planning which ensures the long-term protection and well-being of children from diverse cultural backgrounds requires a broad view of family, ongoing striving for cultural competence, collaboration between the formal child welfare system and the kinship systems of children in state custody, and a long-term view of permanency planning and child-rearing that builds on the case-management capacities of kinship networks to support permanent plans, looks beyond the child's exit from state custody, and helps families and larger kinship systems make long-term plans for the protection, permanence, and well-being of children.     

Resource use of rural low-income families caring for children with disabilities

The Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Pub.L. 104-193 (PRWORA) was passed creating the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Since the passage of PRWORA, many families were able to leave the welfare rolls while those remaining on welfare were likely composed of families facing barriers to leaving, such as caring for children with disabilities. This project addresses the gaps in knowledge regarding low-income families caring for children with disabilities by conducting qualitative research investigating the resources used by these families to find and keep employment and child care. The study used a sample from a research project entitled ‘Rural Families Speak’ and examined the data of 26 families caring for children with disabilities. Analysis resulted in policy recommendations for increasing the efficacy of the programs designed to help these families.     

Cultural sensitivity in the delivery of disability services to children: A case study of Japanese education and socialization

This ethnographic study examined beliefs about disability and related socialization and educational practices at a Japanese elementary school. Disability is a universal issue affecting child welfare and educational systems around the world. Yet, relatively little sociocultural research has focused on non-Western children with disabilities. This limitation restricts our understanding of the extent to which and how cultures vary in their responses to disability, and the impact of these variations on children's development. Public schools in Japan recently implemented formal special education services for children with “developmental disabilities,” a new category used by educators to refer to “milder” difficulties in children's acquisition of social and academic skills, for example, learning disabilities, ADHD and Asperger's syndrome. This transition created a dilemma for educators: blending new requirements of providing individualized support with traditional Japanese socialization and educational practices of raising and educating children within peer groups. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and longitudinal case studies of children with developmental disabilities addressed culturally- and developmentally-sensitive practices employed by educators. Educators were sensitive to stigma, involved peers in supporting one another, created home-like classrooms, guided children towards voluntary cooperation, and provided support and guidance to parents. Broad implications for the design of culturally-sensitive disability services are discussed.     

Reunification outcomes among Mexican immigrant families in the child welfare system

This study examined reunification outcomes among Mexican immigrant families involved in the child welfare system, and compared characteristics of Mexican-origin and non-immigrant children involved in the child welfare system. An exploratory retrospective longitudinal design using administrative data from two counties in Northern California was utilized. The quantitative sample (N = 2152) included children entering the foster care system for 8 or more days between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2007 in the two participating counties. Child welfare administrative data (CWS/CMS) were merged with eligibility data (CalWIN) in order to obtain parent and child place of birth and citizenship status. Quantitative measures drawn from the merged CWS/CMS and CalWIN dataset included the following: demographic characteristics, immigrant characteristics, case characteristics and reunification outcomes. Results indicated that a significantly higher proportion of Mexican immigrant families (70.7%) were reunified than non-immigrant families (43.1%). Significant correlates of reunification among Mexican immigrant families included the following: mothers with authorized citizenship status (vs. unauthorized citizenship status), mothers whose primary language was Spanish (vs. English), and children with two or fewer placements (vs. three or more placements). Differences between Mexican-origin and non-immigrant children were that Mexican-origin children were older on average than non-immigrant children, and they were more likely to experience physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse; they were also more likely to be placed in foster care or a group home (vs. relative care). Implications for social work practice and policy are discussed.     

The Perceptions of Welfare Reform by Michigan Families Whose Children Have Disabilities and Welfare Caseworkers

Abstract

This article examines family and caseworker perceptions of welfare reform and services as they relate to families who have a child with a disability. Interviews were conducted with 39 families and 77 caseworkers. Family questions addressed their perceptions of the welfare system, factors impacting their self-sufficiency, and their perceptions of needed program changes. Caseworker questions addressed their perceptions of welfare practices and policies and their education needs related to serving families who have children with disabilities. Familial perceptions of the welfare system were validated by caseworker reports. Implications for service improvement are discussed.     

Net effects of poverty on welfare use and dependency among children by family immigration and citizenship statuses

The fact that immigrant families used welfare at a disproportionately high level called for national welfare and immigration reforms in the mid-1990s. This study examined the net effects of poverty on welfare use and dependency among U.S.-born children by family immigration and citizenship statuses in pre- and post-welfare reform years. The analyses found that children in poor immigrant families were less likely to use welfare than children in poor native-born families in 1995, 2000, and 2005. In 2010, however, children in poor immigrant families and poor native-born families had similar likelihoods of welfare use. Children in poor noncitizen families were in general less likely to be dependent on welfare than children in poor naturalized families. Although children in poor naturalized families had a lower likelihood of welfare dependency in a pre-welfare reform year, they had similar or higher likelihoods of dependency in post-reform years, compared to children in native-born families.     

Disability welfare reform and the chav threat: a reflection on social class and ‘contested disabilities’

The recent UK media clash between Katie Hopkins and Katie Price in the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother 2015 regarding Price’s receipt of welfare benefits for her son, Harvey, has reopened old debates about welfare support for the so-called deserving and undeserving poor. Nowhere is this more evident than in the classed moralities of motherhood with the harshest criticisms aimed at the ‘chav’ poor and working-class families and their children whose lifestyles and moral respectability may be called into question for causing or even fabricating particular disabilities in the first place. Alongside these characterisations of parental deficits and immorality associated with working-class and poor parents, connections between ‘invisible’ disability, poverty and poor parenting continue.     

Using administrative data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Healthy Families Oregon home visiting program: 2-year impacts on child maltreatment & service utilization

The present study used state administrative databases to examine the 2-year outcomes of a large-scale randomized study of the impact of the Healthy Families Oregon (HFO) home visiting program. 2727 eligible first-time mothers were randomly assigned to either the HFO program or to a community services-as-usual control group. Outcomes for the current study were tracked for 2 years post-random assignment for all study participants through administrative data linkages to Oregon's statewide child welfare system, self-sufficiency services, and substance abuse treatment programs. Results indicated that families assigned to HFO program were no more or less likely to have a substantiated child abuse report than were controls (6.3% vs. 6.0%), but were significantly more likely to have an unsubstantiated report (9.7% vs. 7.9%). Among HFO families who were reported to the child welfare system, 86.2% (94 children) were reported after they had exited the program, while 13.8% (15 children) had a report while enrolled. However, 50.5% of children with unsubstantiated reports were reported while families were receiving HFO services, suggesting a surveillance effect for unsubstantiated reports. HFO families, compared to controls, were also significantly more likely to have been enrolled in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services for the first time, to have received more days of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and to be enrolled in publically-funded substance abuse treatment services. Results suggest that early effects of home visitation on outcomes that can be measured through administrative data are small to modest, and that findings related to documented child welfare systems involvement may require more nuanced data than are typically used and/or available from state agency systems.     

Children with disabilities in Swedish child welfare – a differentiating and disabling practice

ABSTRACT

Research shows that children with disabilities are victims of violence and abuse to a higher extent than other children and thus need support from social services. In Sweden, cooperation between two different social services units is required to support children with disabilities in socially vulnerable families. In this study, we have examined the intersection between children and disability in a Swedish social services context from the perspective of childhood studies and disability studies. The reasoning of the two units including the child perspective emerged during focus group interviews based on two vignettes. The results show two different rationalities, which has consequences for the disabled child. In spite of a social policy where the ‘best interests of the child’ are meant to prevail and disabilities are meant to be interpreted as barriers in society, children with disabilities seem to be reduced to individuals who are lacking in ability and competency and who are profoundly victimised by power structures that favour the adult perspective in social services.     

Challenges Faced by Women with Disabilities Under TANF

SUMMARY

A number of studies report the multiple problems facing women during the welfare reform transition. Within this group is a large number of single mothers struggling with both poverty and chronic health problems or disabilities. Those with these additional challenges might be expected to experience less success in moving out of poverty than those without these health challenges. In this study, we examine the progress of 178 women around the state of Wisconsin who were interviewed repeatedly about their experiences with welfare reform and poverty between 1997 and 2000, when the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program was being implemented. The incidence of health problems is related to level of education, and the type of disability has major impacts on expected outcome. Those with less education are more likely to suffer from health problems, especially mental health issues, depression and post-traumatic stress, which seem to be the most debilitating. These women also had difficulty accessing non-work support, such as Supplement Security Income (SSI), a federal assistance program for disabled persons with little or no income, or assistance from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), a federal and state program of assistance to promote the employment abilities of adults with disabilities.     

Expanding the conceptualization of re-entry: The inter-play between child welfare and juvenile services

Re-entry in child welfare is traditionally viewed as a child exiting to permanency and then reentering the child welfare system. Using this approach is effective for understanding child welfare practice from a single-system lens, but gives an incomplete picture of how children may move between related child serving systems. The present study expands the definition of re-entry by examining re-entry for 2259 children who either return to the child welfare system or move into the juvenile justice system after reunification from foster care. When measuring a broader concept of re-entry (into either system) the rate of re-entry went from 18% to 25% - a 33% increase. Regression analyses further suggested that many of the risk and protective factors associated with standard child welfare reentry were also predictive of multisystem re-entry such as having previous child welfare experience (OR = 1.79, p < 0.000), and child behavior as a factor at removal (OR = 1.75, p < 0.000). Findings of this study support the need to continue increasing the conceptualization of re-entry to be more inclusive of related systems as well as continuing to focus research efforts on understanding effective practices within child serving systems so that re-entry into either system is mitigated.     

Disability pension among adult former child welfare clients: A Swedish national cohort study

Using longitudinal register data on all persons born in Sweden 1973–1978, we report on prevalence of disability pension among young adults who were child welfare clients during their formative years, and explore risk factors for this long-term outcome. For most child welfare subgroups, prevalence approached or exceeded ten percent. Multivariate logistic regression analyses found high crude odds ratios of disability pension among child welfare alumni. These were substantially reduced – but not obliterated – after adjustments for a host of background factors. Decomposition analyses revealed that child welfare alumni’s poor school performance and low educational attainment accounted for most of the confounding effects. We also found that child welfare clients with a disability pension had far higher rates of psychosocial problems in their adult lives than other peers with a disability pension.Child welfare alumni should be regarded as a high risk group for future disability pension and for permanent exclusion from the labor market. Rates of suicidal behavior in adult age were extreme among some subgroups of child welfare alumni with a disability pension, which should be communicated to agencies who are likely to meet these groups (eg. primary health care).     

The socio-economic circumstances of children at risk of disability in Britain

Our aims were to describe the socio-economic circumstances faced by families supporting a child at risk of disability and to investigate the extent to which disability is associated with hardship once family income is held constant. We analysed data on 7070 family units containing 12,916 children aged under 17. Families supporting a child at risk of disability were significantly more disadvantaged across a wide range of indicators of socio-economic position. The hardship experienced by these families was only partly accounted for by between group differences in income, debt and savings. Children who are already at risk of disability as a result of a range of physical and cognitive impairments are more likely than other children to live under conditions that have been repeatedly shown to impede development, increase the risk of poor health and (additional) disability and increase the risk of social exclusion.     

Understanding the social exclusion and stalled welfare of citizens with learning disabilities

Despite the UK’s recent history of promoting the social inclusion and equality of men and women with learning disabilities they remain a significantly disadvantaged group. Compared with their non‐disabled peers they are more likely to be unemployed, less likely to own their own homes and are at a significantly greater risk of physical and mental ill health. The first part of this paper discusses the welfare rights of citizens with learning disabilities in terms of New Labour’s welfare to work policies. The second part discusses the UK’s mixed welfare economy and its impact upon services for men and women with learning disabilities. The paper concludes by considering whether the social inclusion of men and women with learning disabilities can be promoted solely through policies that emphasise inclusion through work and the personalisation of welfare services.