Achieving Permanence in Foster Care for Young Children: A Comparison of Kinship and Non-Kinship Placements

ABSTRACT

A number of child welfare policies have reinforced the use of kinship care as the most preferred placement for foster children, reflecting the philosophy that maintaining children within their own extended family system contributes to their stability and well-being. Given the growing utilization and legislative emphasis on kinship care along with the push for an immediate implementation of permanency plans for children in foster care, this study examines how the permanency goal under the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) is being implemented and achieved. The reunification and permanency placement (adoption or legal guardianship) outcomes of children in relative and non-relative care are analyzed, focusing on the experiences of young children. Based on public child welfare agency data from 2000 to 2003, child, case, and placement variables are explored to identify which set of factors best explains case outcomes. The present study identifies the total length of foster placement (kinship and non-kinship), the length of family maintenance services, and the number of placement changes as the most important variables in determining family reunification and permanent placement (legal guardianship and adoption) outcomes for young children.     

Family-centered child welfare services: new life for a historic idea

The recent emphasis on permanency planning in child welfare has strengthened the resolve of policy makers and service providers to serve the families of dependent children better. Permanency planning asks child welfare services either to reunite children in care with their families of origin or to find permanent substitute families for children, but the goal of a permanent family for every child has been much easier to articulate than it has been to achieve.     

Permanent Placements for Young Children Placed in Foster Care: A Proposal for a Child Welfare Services Performance Standard

Performance indicators for child welfare services for young children entering foster care should be established to help agencies determine the sufficiency of their efforts to provide permanency. Child welfare services need a technically feasible, conceptually sound, and achievable performance standard. Use of a 100% permanency standard, not including long-term foster care or non-kinship guardianship, within four calendar years of placement is forwarded. Data on the permanency planning performance of a state and four counties within it are presented to sharpen the discussion.     

Improving Permanency: Caseworker Perspectives of Older Youth in Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement

Researchers conducted focus groups with 52 child welfare caseworkers across five county child welfare agencies to understand their approach to working with and views about outcomes for youth in Another Permanent Planned Living Arrangement (APPLA). Analysis of the focus groups yielded five themes, including (a) youth and family factors contributing to APPLA as a case designation, (b) caseload intensity relative to this specific population, (c) perceptions of organizational support, (d) lack of focus on legal permanency, and (e) overemphasis on independent living services. The range of viewpoints from these child welfare professionals spoke to the complexities of addressing the needs for older youth in care and to identifying strategies to improve permanency outcomes for this population. The implications for practices that account for individual, organizational, and systemic factors impacting legal permanency for older youth are discussed.     

Factors affecting permanency for legally free children & youth: A study of Colorado's legally free population across age groups, 2008–2014

Legally freed children and youth whose parents have had their parental rights terminated have been shown to be more likely to emancipate from the child welfare system as a result of facing a series of complex factors that affect their likelihood of achieving permanency. To better understand these complex factors, the Colorado Department of Human Services' Division of Child Welfare utilized survival analysis to comprehensively examine the factors that affect permanency for legally free children and youth. Factors affecting permanency outcomes were analyzed for more than 5700 legally free children and youth within Colorado's child welfare system during the period of January 2008 to August 2014. Overall, the majority of Colorado's legally free children and youth achieved a positive permanency outcome. However, the results of the survival analysis reveal distinct factors affecting the permanency of children and youth in distinct age groups, including: children who became legally free after birth through five years in age, children who became legally free between six to twelve years in age, and youth who became legally free between thirteen to seventeen years in age. Across all age groups, African American race, number of prior involvements, permanency goal, age, number of placements while in care, and the time spent in congregate care or family-like settings were found to have statistically significant effects on the likelihood of achieving permanency. Collectively, the findings highlight the distinct factors affecting permanency across different age groups as well as the need for future research to examine the disparate factors affecting permanency outcomes across different age groups.     

African American Men,Child Welfare,and Permanency Planning

Summary

Like social services generally, child welfare and permanency planning services have failed to incorporate African American men as significant and serious participants in the service delivery process. Child welfare and permanency planning services have marginalized African American men such that children fail to benefit from the inclusion of these men in the service delivery process. This incomplete and inappropriate approach to permanency planning specifically, and to child welfare services more generally, is a disservice to African American children. Corrective measures are proffered to promote greater inclusion of African American men in child welfare and permanency planning services.     

Getting home on time: predicting timely permanence for young children

The timelines of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) (P.L. 105-89) require increased attention to the timing of permanent placement, regardless of the type of placement outcome. This study examines the multivariate predictors of timely permanence for children served by Colorado's Expedited Permanency Planning (EPP) project. EPP has used an intensive concurrent planning model aimed at reaching permanency within 12 months of initial placement for children aged 6 and younger. The EPP requirement that children be living in the permanent home by 12 months postplacement is more stringent than the technical ASFA requirements. This article uses qualitative interviews with child welfare and court personnel to identify critical barriers to and supports for effective permanency planning.     

Expedited permanency planning: evaluation of the Kentucky Adoptions Opportunities Project

This article presents the evaluation findings of a Kentucky Adoptions Opportunities Project (KAOP), a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. The primary goal of the KAOP was implementation of three permanency planning activities: (1) risk assessment/concurrent planning, (2) one child/one legal voice, and (3) early placement in kinship or foster/adoptive homes. These activities were designed to expedite a permanency placement decision within 12 months for high-risk children. The evaluation of 124 high-risk children in the KAOP revealed that the majority of children had one or both parents coping with multiple risk factors, including mental illness, substance abuse, mental retardation, or family violence. The major barriers to permanency are discussed, as well as the policy and practice implications in the context of Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.     

Time limits in permanency planning: The child welfare worker's perspective

Public child welfare workers in California reported their judgments of time limits and the timing of court reviews under permanency planning statutes. Overall, workers support California's 12-month limit on reunification services, although differences emerge between staff with more child welfare experience and between agencies with differing training for and experience with permanency planning. Recommendations for policy and practice are forwarded.     

Infusing Clinical Supervision Throughout Child Welfare Practice: Advancing Effective Implementation of Family-Centered Practice Through Supervisory Processes

Child welfare supervision is fundamental to advancing the quality of practice when seeking to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of children. Child welfare supervisors serve administrative, educational, and support functions as they oversee frontline caseworkers and direct service providers. Clinical supervision, a dialog-driven process of case review and consultation is situated within the educational function. The process of clinical supervision is essential to child welfare practice, because it prompts reflection and builds analytical thinking skills needed to address complex situations involved in child protection. Despite increased recognition regarding the importance of clinical supervision, child welfare supervision continues to focus primarily on administrative tasks. Organizational climate and external pressures push this administrative agenda. In addition, many child welfare supervisors lack experience, training, and therefore competency in facilitating clinical case reviews. Strengths-Based Supervision (SBS; Lietz 2013) is a model of clinical supervision that was developed to (a) increase child welfare supervisors’ intentionality regarding the importance of infusing clinical supervision into child welfare supervision and (b) advance the skills needed to implement this practice effectively representing one solution to this ongoing challenge.     

Child Welfare and Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AOD): Bridging the Gap to Comprehensive Services

ABSTRACT

Chemical addiction is a significant factor in child abuse and neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 1999). Although research has indicated that an alliance between the child welfare and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) treatment fields is the best way to effectively address chemical addiction within families, collaboration has not generally been established. The lack of collaborative relationships between the child welfare and AOD fields can be attributed to a number of different factors. Similarities in proposed interventions for collaborative efforts between AOD treatment and child welfare agencies can be found throughout the literature. The establishment of a truly collaborative partnership between AOD treatment and the child welfare system is a necessary step towards achievement of functional and healthy families, a goal common to both disciplines.     

Reducing racial disparities and disproportionalities in the child welfare system: Policy perspectives about how to serve the best interests of African American youth

This article examines current debates about how to reduce the overrepresentation of African American youth in the child welfare system and address related disparities. These debates reflect tensions between four long-standing perspectives in child welfare: expedient permanency, cultural continuity, family preservation, and social advantage. For each point of view, proponents' unique framing of the problem, use of research, and preferred intervention strategies are described. The emphasis of current federal policy on expedient permanency and transracial adoption is explored, followed by a detailed review of the literature evaluating the impact of this intervention on child and system-level outcomes. It is argued that conclusive evidence does not exist in support of transracial adoption and the expedient permanency perspective above others. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

Perfecting the Craft: Formative Assessment of a University–Agency Partnership for Social Work Education

The aim of this study was to identify strengths and weaknesses of a Title IV-E partnership for delivery of child welfare education in the United States. A formative assessment was conducted for a newly developed partnership between a public child welfare agency and seven institutes of higher education. Using a qualitative design, interviews were conducted with professionals from the agency and from each college/university, as well as with students enrolled in child welfare courses supported by the partnership. Findings address strengths and benefits of the partnership, lessons learned, and suggestions for enhancement of program administration, curricula, field placements, and recruitment and retention. Respondents described numerous benefits of the partnership, particularly its contribution to professionalism and commitment among child welfare workers, improving the field of child welfare, and promoting a focus on outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being for children and families. A concern to be addressed in future research and practice was integrating opportunities for education and career advancement for persons currently on staff at the public agency. Recommendations are discussed for improving university–agency partnerships in child welfare and beyond.     

Developing collaborations between child welfare agencies and Latino communities

Collaborative efforts to achieve permanency planning and family stability for all children in the child welfare system are increasing. As Latino children and families constitute the fastest growing ethnic group in the child welfare system, it is important to understand how to develop culturally sensitive collaborations with their communities. The purpose of this article is to suggest helpful guidelines for developing collaborations between child welfare agencies and Latino communities.     

Facilitating visitation for infants with prenatal substance exposure

Permanency planning for infants with prenatal substance exposure is challenging due to characteristics of the infants and the ongoing substance use or relapse of the parents. Visitation is a primary mechanism through which child welfare workers determine and support permanency planning. Productive use of visitation for permanency planning for infants with prenatal substance exposure is described, along with strategies for skillfully focusing visits on issues and needs relevant to this population.     

Forgotten children: A critical review of the reunification of American Indian children in the child welfare system

Reunification is the preferred permanency path experienced by children following out-of-home placement (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011, 2012). Emerging literature suggests a number of child, parent, family, and child welfare case characteristics predict the likelihood of reunification. However, research on the reunification of American Indians in child welfare system is limited. Given the unique historical and cultural context of American Indian families, a need exists to better understand what contributes to achieving permanency through reunification for these families. To develop a better understanding of reunification research, this article provides a critical review of the literature on predictors of reunification that is inclusive of American Indians. A search of the literature resulted in the inclusion of 17 articles. Findings suggest that although awareness of the factors associated with reunification for American Indian families is helpful, without consistent inclusion of child, parent, family, and case-related variables across statistical analyses, limited conclusions can be drawn. It is significant to note that a level that is not currently considered in literature is the tribe or band and what is done to assist the child in reunification from the tribal level.     

Association of caregiver social support with the safety,permanency, and well-being of children in child welfare

Focusing on families having contact with the child welfare system, this study aims to assess whether caregiver social support is associated with the three primary child welfare goals: child safety, permanency and well-being. The study uses a national probability sample of children having contact with the child welfare system and a prospective study design. It includes both caregiver and caseworker indicators of social support. Consistent with previous research, study results suggest that different indicators of caregiver social support are associated with different child welfare outcomes. Notably, when caregivers were more satisfied with their social support and caseworkers rated caregiver social support as adequate, children were less likely to be placed out of the home. Also, caregivers who had more people to call on for support rated their children as having less severe behavior problems. Implications for practice are addressed.     

A confirmatory factor analysis of the evidence-based practice attitudes scale in child welfare

Despite the emphasis on evidence-based practice (EBP) in child welfare services (CWS) as an emerging and inevitable trend, implementation factors such as child welfare worker attitudes towards implementing EBP have received little attention in CWS. Aaron's (2004) Evidence Based Practice Attitudes Scale (EBPAS) has been used in multiple studies across mental health and healthcare settings. However, it has rarely been used in CWS. A-Mid Atlantic State implemented the EBPAS in all child welfare jurisdictions to measure workers' performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the EBPAS applied in a large urban child welfare services setting using a confirmatory factor analysis. Based on prior literature, three models were tested: a four factor model, a five factor model, and a second order four factor model. The second order model provided the best fit to the data, suggesting the EBPAS can measure workers' global attitudes, as well as four attitude types, towards EBP in a CWS setting. This study validates the use of the EBPAS with child welfare workers. Implications for effective evidence based practice in child welfare are discussed.     

There's no place like home: achieving safety,permanency, and well-being for lesbian and gay adolescents in out-of-home care settings

A study was conducted with 45 self-identified gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning (GLBTQ) youth and agency staff at the two known gay-affirming child welfare agencies in the United States: Green Chimneys GLBTQ Programs in New York City and Gay and Lesbian Social Services in Los Angeles, California. The study examined the question, "What are the challenges presented in ensuring permanency, safety, and well-being for gay and lesbian youth in a gay-affirming child welfare environment?" Guided by the framework outlined in the Child and Family Services Reviews National Standards, which support better outcomes for children and youth, the investigators sought to explore the challenges of ensuring permanency, safety, and well-being for this population, as these challenges were identified by the agency staff and youth who live and work in either of these two gay-affirming programs.