Patterns and Predictors of Early Care and Education for Children in Foster Care

Patterns and predictors of center-based early care and education (ECE) of children in foster care were examined. Participants included 192 pre-Kindergarten age children in foster care. Foster parents reported demographics, ECE and other service use. Foster care history data was abstracted from case files. High rates of attendance in ECE prior to Kindergarten, including Head Start, other center-based ECE, or both were found. Children who attended Head Start were younger when first placed in foster care. Children who attended other center-based ECE services were more likely to live with kinship foster parents and foster families with higher incomes. Latent class analysis of ECE quantity, quality, type, and duration revealed three patterns: part-time Head Start, part-time other ECE, and full-time mixed ECE. Child and foster family characteristics predicted these patterns, illustrating distinct groups with potential implications for the development of children in foster care.     

Concurrent child history and contextual predictors of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in foster care

This study contributes to current research on the behavior problems of children in foster care by analyzing a more comprehensive set of concurrent child history and contextual predictors. Kinship home status and sibling status (i.e., whether the sibling is a biological sibling to the foster child) were evaluated as moderators of significant associations. Data were collected at the baseline of a foster parent training intervention program prior to any intervention services using parent phone interviews (N = 310, 51.6% male, M age = 7.57 years). Two linear hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate each set of predictors' association with behavior problems as well as each individual predictor's contribution. Results indicated that as a set, the contextual variables predicted a significant and unique amount of variability in the child's internalizing and externalizing behavior scores, whereas the child history variables did not. Specifically, the child's placement in a non-kinship home, being in a non-ethnically matched child-parent pair, higher parent stress scores, a greater number of prior group home placements, and higher internalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher child externalizing scores. Higher parent stress scores, higher focal sibling externalizing behavior scores, and higher externalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher internalizing scores for the child. The association between focal sibling externalizing behavior scores and child internalizing scores was moderated by kinship home status, such that there was a stronger association between the focal sibling's externalizing score and the child's internalizing score if the child was in a kinship compared to a non-kinship home. Implications for intervention services are discussed, particularly the importance of assessing the child's foster home environment when addressing the child's behavior problems.     

Moderating effects of race on internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers

This study examined whether the influences of multiple maternal criminal justice involvement (MCJI), community adversity, and violence exposure on children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors were moderated by race. The study included 409 children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers, ages 5–15 who participated in the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). Results indicated that race, defined as Black vs. non-Black, moderated the associations between multiple MCJI and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Decomposition of the regression effects indicated that non-Black children exposed to multiple MCJI, as compared to non-Black children who were not exposed to multiple MCJI, exhibited significant increases in both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while Black children who experience multiple MCJI, on average, showed no increases. Similarly, race moderated the association between exposure to community adversity and externalizing behaviors. The decomposition of regression effects indicated that non-Black children who experienced higher levels of community adversity exhibited increases in externalizing behaviors, while Black children showed no increases. Criminal justice and child welfare practice and policy implications are discussed.     

Family Loyalty and Adolescent Problem Behavior: The Validity of the Family Group Effect

Erratum . Journal of Law and Society Volume 32 Issue 3 The present study examined the relation between perceived justice and trust within family relationships and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problem behavior. Data were gathered from the father, the mother, and two of their adolescent children in 288 families. The social relations model was used to assess perceived justice and trust at the family level and the individual level. Adolescent internalizing and externalizing problem behavior turned out to be best predicted at the family level. Adolescents from families with less just or trustworthy climates showed more of these problem behaviors. Also associations between adolescent problem behavior and individual characteristics of the adolescents were found: adolescents who were generally viewed as less just/trustworthy were reported to have more problems. Our findings suggest that processes at different levels of family functioning (i.e., individual, whole‐family) should be taken into account when investigating associations between family characteristics and children's outcomes.     

The Association between head Start Enrollment and Children's Mental Health Scores

This study examined the association of the children's entry age and enrollment duration of Head Start on children's mental health, using secondary data analysis. Children were of three groups: one group of children entered Head Start at age 3 and maintained enrollment for 1 year (Group 1), the second group of children entered Head Start at age 4 and stayed for 1 year (Group 2) and the third group of children entered at age 3 and stayed in Head Start for 2 years (Group 3). Research questions are (1) Do child and family characteristics have any association with mental health scores? (2) Do children's mental health scores differ among the three groups? Compared with children who entered at age 4 and stayed for 1 year, children who entered Head Start at age 3 and stayed in Head Start both for 1 year and for 2 years had higher mental health scores. Controlling for other factors, boys and children with special needs had higher mental health scores. Black and dual bilingual children had lower mental health scores.     

Co-development of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems during early childhood among child welfare-involved children

Using parallel-process latent growth curve modeling, we examine developmental trajectories of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and identify early risk factors for behavior problems among 329 child welfare-involved children followed from age 2 years to 5 years. Data are drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II. On average, internalizing behavior problems remained stable, while externalizing behavior problems decreased over time. Higher initial levels of internalizing behavior problems were associated with higher initial levels of externalizing behavior problems. Rates of change also had positive cross-domain relationships. Child neglect, exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), insecure caregiver-child attachment, and caregiver mental health problems were associated with higher initial levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Exposure to IPV, out-of-home care, and caregiver drug use predicted rates of change in behavior problems. Our findings highlight the importance of comprehensive assessment and treatment for co-occurring internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in young children involved in the child welfare system. Results also indicate the need for identifying and addressing early risk factors to prevent early onset and continued development of behavior problems in high-risk children.     

Role of Parent and Peer Relationships and Individual Characteristics in Middle School Children's Behavioral Outcomes in the Face of Community Violence

This study examines processes linking inner‐city community violence exposure to subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems. Hypothesized risk and protective factors from 3 ecological domains—children's parent and peer relationships and individual characteristics—were examined for mediating, moderating, or independent roles in predicting problem behavior among 667 children over 3 years of middle school. Mediation was not found. However, parent and peer variables moderated the association between exposure and internalizing problems. Under high exposure, normally protective factors (e.g., attachment to parents) were less effective in mitigating exposure's effects than under low exposure; attachment to friends was more effective. Individual competence was independently associated with decreased internalizing problems. Variables from all domains, and exposure, were independently associated with externalizing problems. Protective factors (e.g., parent attachment) predicted decreased problems; risk factors (e.g., friends' delinquency) predicted increased problems. Results indicate community violence reduction as essential in averting inner‐city adolescents' poor behavioral outcomes.     

Head Start Impact on Fathers’ Involvement and Black Children’s Development

ABSTRACT

This study examined Head Start’s impact on fathers’ school-based involvement and associations with Black children's cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional skills. With a sample of 1,354 Black children, fathers’ involvement was measured as attendance at school meetings, teacher conferences, school events, and/or volunteering at school events. Children’s cognitive skills were literacy, language, and mathematics scores. Parents reported on the parent–child relationship, children’s social skills, and behavioral concerns. Non-resident fathers in Head Start were more involved in Black children’s schooling than not enrolled in Head Start. Unexpectedly, fathers’ school-based involvement and Head Start enrollment were not related to children’s developmental outcomes at kindergarten age. Head Start serving impoverished Black families should consider implementing targeted school-based father involvement initiatives that directly influence children.     

Early care and education arrangements and young children's risk of foster placement: Findings from a National Child Welfare Sample

A primary goal of the U.S. child welfare system (CWS) is to maintain children investigated for maltreatment in their parents' homes whenever safely possible. This study explores the possibility that early care and education (ECE) services (e.g., child care, preschool, day care) can help the CWS achieve this goal by using a nationally representative sample of children referred to CWS for suspected maltreatment to measure the relationship between ECE receipt and the likelihood that 0–5 year olds in the CWS will be placed in foster care approximately 18 months later. Specifically, logistic regression analyses explore the relationship between: (1) regular ECE participation (yes/no), and (2) type of ECE arrangement (Head Start, other center- or home-based ECE, family/friend/relative ECE, other ECE, and multiple types of ECE) and foster placement risk. After controlling for multiple socio-demographic characteristics and foster placement risk factors, children who received ECE (yes/no) were no less likely to be placed in foster care than children who received no ECE. However, when exploring type of ECE arrangement, children who received Head Start were 93% less likely to be placed in foster care than children with no ECE. Children who participated in multiple types of ECE were almost seven times more likely to be placed in foster care than children with no ECE. These results suggest that Head Start may help maltreated children avoid foster placement and that experiencing multiple types of ECE is a risk factor for foster placement. It is recommended that caseworkers routinely assess the ECE service history and needs of families with young children who come in contact with the CWS, paying attention to the type and number of ECE services used.     

Change in externalizing problems over time among ethnic minority youth exposed to violence

Youth exposed to violence, many of whom are from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, are at high risk for externalizing problems such as aggressive and oppositional behavior, conduct problems, and delinquency. Most interventions target youth with already high levels of such problems, while selective prevention efforts have received less attention. It is important for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to understand how such problems develop and change over time, and how selective prevention may impact externalizing problems. In this study, we examined one-year trajectories of externalizing problems in 883 low-income, ethnic minority youth exposed to violence who participated in randomized controlled trials testing a prevention program for high-risk youth called the Strengthening Families Program. We found three trajectories of externalizing problems: Low Externalizing (43% of the sample had consistently low levels of externalizing symptoms), Persisters (39% of the sample had consistently high levels of externalizing symptoms), and Improvers (18% of the sample had initially high levels of externalizing symptoms that decreased over time). There were demographic differences between the three trajectories with individuals in the Low Externalizing trajectory more likely to be female and younger than those in the other two trajectories and Persisters and Improvers had significantly more problems with baseline internalizing symptoms, family conflict, and parenting behavior compared to the Low Externalizing trajectory. Logistic regressions then tested several predictors of membership in the Persisters trajectory compared to the Improvers trajectory, controlling for all covariates simultaneously. Only baseline parenting behavior and intervention group membership significantly predicted trajectory membership, and these were small and unreliable effects. Thus, children with varying levels of violence exposure, co-occurring emotional/behavioral problems and family issues, and varying demographics (e.g., age and gender) may do equally well over time, but engagement in this type of intervention may increase the likelihood that high levels of externalizing problems are ameliorated over time.     

Academic Performance of Subsequent Schools and Impacts of Early Interventions: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Head Start Settings

The role of subsequent school contexts in the long-term effects of early childhood interventions has received increasing attention, but has been understudied in the literature. Using data from the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP), a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in Head Start programs, we investigate whether the intervention had differential effects on academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten if children attended high- or low-performing schools subsequent to the preschool intervention year. To address the issue of selection bias, we adopt an innovative method, principal score matching, and control for a set of child, mother, and classroom covariates. We find that exposure to the CSRP intervention in the Head Start year had significant effects on academic and behavioral outcomes in kindergarten for children who subsequently attended high-performing schools, but no significant effects on children attending low-performing schools. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Behavior problems and children's academic achievement: A test of growth-curve models with gender and racial differences

The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between externalizing and internalizing behavior and children's academic achievement, particularly in terms of whether these variables varied as a function of gender and race. Data pertaining to externalizing and internalizing behavior, academic achievement, gender, and race from three waves of the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 2028) were used. Results indicate that behavior problems had a negative relationship with academic performance and some of these associations endured over time. Externalizing behavior impacted reading scores more negatively for females compared to males at baseline, but the impact of externalizing behavior on long-term reading outcomes did not vary by gender. Externalizing behavior impacted reading scores more negatively for Black children than White children at multiple points in time. Differences between males, females, Black, and White children concerning behavior and achievement are explained. Implications, limitations, and ideas for future research are also presented.     

The Impact of Intergenerational Head Start Participation on Success Measures Among Adolescent Children

This study examines the influence of intergenerational Head Start participation on success outcomes among adolescent children of mother-adolescent pairs (N = 1,251). Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey's Child-Mother (NLSCM) files. Of 290 adolescents who participated in Head Start as children, one-third (n = 97) had mothers who had also participated in Head Start when they were children. Graduates of Head Start appear roughly comparable to other adolescents in regard to highest grade completed, a sense of mastery, perceived health, and level of depressive symptoms. They do not attain the levels of achievements as other adolescents in regard to reading comprehension and years living above the poverty level.     

INVESTING IN HEALTH: THE LONG‐TERM IMPACT OF HEAD START ON SMOKING

Head Start is a comprehensive, early childhood development program designed to augment the human capital and health capital levels of disadvantaged children. Evaluations of Head Start have tended to focus on cognitive outcomes; however, there is increasing recognition that other important outcomes can be influenced by participation. This article evaluates the long‐term impact of Head Start participation on smoking behavior in young adulthood by comparing the behavior of adults who attended Head Start with those of siblings who did not. We find that participation in Head Start reduces the probability that an individual smokes cigarettes as a young adult. (JEL I12, I28, I38)     

Influence of Caregiver Substance Dependence and Serious Mental Illness on Children’s Mental Health: Moderating Effects of Social Support

This study examined the relationships between caregiver alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and serious mental illness and internalizing and externalizing behaviors and whether these risks were moderated by social support. The study included 3,225 children ages 2–17 and their current caregivers, who participated in the second cohort of the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Regression analysis indicated that caregiver alcohol dependence, serious mental illness, and social support were significantly associated with internalizing behaviors and caregiver serious mental illness and social support were significantly associated with externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that social support moderated the associations between caregiver alcohol dependence and internalizing and caregiver drug dependence and externalizing behaviors. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The Impact of Complex Family Structure on Child Well‐being: Evidence From Siblings

Evidence from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort on children at ages 3 and 5 with older siblings addresses the questions of whether those living with both biological parents and only full siblings have better emotional and behavior outcomes than other children, and whether nonfull siblings affect children's outcomes independently of parents' partnership status. Adjusting for measured family circumstances and resources in cross‐sectional regressions accounted for much of the adverse association of family complexity with child outcomes. Controlling for unobserved family and child fixed effects did not, however, attenuate all estimates further. Fixed unobservable factors appeared to be masking underlying associations. Allowing for them intensified some, albeit modest, estimates. These revealed excess externalizing behavior problems for boys with single or stepparents but only full siblings. For girls with single mothers, the chances of internalizing problems were raised. Whether siblings were full or not made little difference to outcomes in general.     

INFLUENCES ON THEf INCLUSION OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY THERAPY BRIEF REPORT

This study examined factors that influence family therapists to include children in or exclude them from therapy sessions. We hypothesized that therapist comfort, child problem type (internalizing vs. externalizing), family composition (one- vs two-parent families), and presenting problem (child-oriented problem vs. adult-oriented problem) affect therapists' inclusion of children. A survey of clinical members of AAMFT found that half of the therapists excluded children on the basis of their comfort and that those who felt more comfortable were more likely to include children in sessions. Therapists included children more frequently in cases of an internalizing vs. an externalizing child, more with single-parent than two- parent families, and more often when the presenting problem focused on a child than on an adult. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Residential Mobility and Adolescent Achievement and Behavior: Understanding Timing and Extent of Mobility

Residential mobility is generally viewed as an adverse event for adolescents' development. Less is known about whether moving during adolescence, childhood, or both periods explains this connection and whether the extent of mobility matters. Analytic shortcomings with much of the research call into question extant findings. We examined associations between childhood, adolescent, and child–adolescent mobility and adolescents' achievement (math and reading) and behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing). With a multisite, longitudinal sample (N = 1,056), we employed propensity score methods, which mitigate concerns about selection bias on observed variables, to investigate relationships. Results suggest that multiple, child–adolescent movers had more internalizing problems in adolescence than their stable peers, but did not differ on externalizing problems or achievement.     

The development of a systematic approach to mental health screening in Child Advocacy Centers

We report on efforts to implement a new protocol of mental health screening for children seen in Child Advocacy Centers (CACs), including the results from the first year of implementation with 1685 families. The parent-reported child screening results (obtained on 46.3% of children) indicate that while many children were not experiencing significant symptoms of internalizing or externalizing problems, a subset of children had very elevated scores. At the one-week and one-month screening, consistent predictors of more severe internalizing problems included age, a parent or step-parent as the offender, and having been removed from the home. For externalizing problems, consistent predictors included Caucasian ethnicity and having been removed from the home. By the one-week follow-up, about half of those interviewed (50.8%) had entered counseling or had an appointment pending. The likelihood of initiating mental health services was increased when the alleged abuse type was sexual, when the child had been removed from the home, and when the child's internalizing and externalizing symptoms were more severe. Surveys of the CAC staff implementing the new process suggest that it helped them understand the needs of the children, though their ability to reach some families was a barrier to implementation.     

BEYOND THE CLINIC: IN-HOME THERAPY WITH HEAD START FAMILIES

Social workers and case managers have provided in-home services to families for some time. The field of Marriage and Family Therapy, however, has begun to do in-home work only recently. This paper describes the experiences of MFT interns who worked with families in their homes. Two university graduate MFT training programs conceptualized and practiced in-home therapy with families who had at least one child enrolled in the local Head Start program. This collaborative effort was part of the AAMFT-Head Start Training Partnership Project that had the goal of funding projects that demonstrated successful partnerships between MFT and Head Start. Six interns worked with 27 Head Start families in their homes. A model of the interns' transition from clinic-based to home-based therapy is discussed and applied to working with Head Start families. The framework of in-home therapy is expanded to conceptualizing larger systems and community-based interventions, and recommendations for family therapists in private practice and agency settings are made.