Foster care placement change: The role of family dynamics and household composition

Sibling co-placement and kinship care have each been shown to protect against the occurrence of placement change for youth in substitute care. However, little is known about the effects of different combinations of sibling placement and relative caregiver status on placement change. Nor does the field fully understand how family dynamics may differ in these households. Utilizing data from the Supporting Siblings in Foster Care study, this paper examines family dynamics across four typologies of living composition, and tests the effects of living composition membership on the odds of experiencing a placement change over an 18-month period of time. Findings suggest that across living composition typologies, children who were placed separately from their siblings in non-relative care were more likely to be older, have more extensive placement histories, and experience more placement changes both prior to and during the study than were children in other living composition groups. Family living composition was found to influence the occurrence of placement change. Specifically, children co-placed in kinship care were least likely to experience movement; however, sibling co-placement in non-relative care was also protective. Results reveal the need to conduct additional research into the experiences of children in different family living arrangements, and tailor case management services and supports to children in substitute care accordingly. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Foster home licensing and risk of reentry to out-of-home care following family reunification

Family reunification without subsequent reentry is the primary permanency goal for children placed in foster care. While a number of placement-level factors have been examined for their effect on subsequent reentry to care, no study to date has considered foster care licensing. The current study uses statewide administrative data to construct a cohort of foster care youth who entered care between 2009 and 2012 and were reunified by the start of 2013 (N = 7752) to investigate the association between types of foster care and the probability of reentry to foster care up to two years following reunification. We focus specifically on the licensing status of foster homes, and employ propensity score analysis to address selection bias in placement type. A propensity-weighted cox proportional hazard model revealed that youth placed in licensed relative care (LRC) homes and licensed non-relative care (LNC) homes were more likely to reenter foster care than those youth placed in unlicensed relative care (URC) homes during their first spell of foster care.     

Foster care and Medicaid managed care

Children in the foster care system are often dependent on Medicaid for health care. These children, however, have more complex health care needs than the typical child receiving Medicaid. States are implementing Medicaid managed care programs as a way to control escalating costs while providing necessary services. This article reviews the issues surrounding delivery of managed health care services to children in foster care and describes several solutions.     

Foster care drift: a risk-assessment matrix

Category I and II families are qualitatively different from families who can be reunited after a short period of service. This matrix attempts to further our efforts at differential diagnosis and case planning early in service delivery. Parents must not be denied the chance to succeed in reversing problems that put their children at risk. Children must not be made to suffer the effects of foster care drift, however, while their parents continually fail to meet their needs. Front-loading of services and early determination of the parents' willingness and/or ability to change protect children's right to a permanent and stable home.     

Foster care in South Australia

In 1969, a book titled “The semi-professions and their organisation: teachers, nurses, social workers” was published in the U.S.A.¹ Edited by sociologist Amitai Etzioni, the book's stated aim was “to increase sociological knowledge about the professions by focusing on a group of new professions whose claim to the status of doctors and lawyers is neither fully established nor fully desired”.² While the relegation of social workers to “semi-professional” status must have annoyed some American social workers, the same year saw a heartening step forward for social workers in Australia. On 3rd December, 1969, the Deputy Public Service Arbitrator (Mr. W. B. Wilson, B.A., Dip.Ed.) handed down Determination No. 386 of 1969, which substantially increased salaries of social workers in the Commonwealth Public Service.     

Foster care in the Soviet Union

The recently established Soviet Children's Fund has been making significant progress in developing present day, diversified forms of foster care for children who are casualties, as it were, of decades of social deterioration. The Fund has become a national promoter of the rights of children and has enlisted both the public and the government in supporting programs to protect children and to care for those who need out-of-home care.     

Foster child health care supervision policy

Foster children represent a high-risk group for physical, emotional, and social health problems, yet few federal or state policies explicitly address foster child health. This article reviews foster child health and the legal background for policy, then discusses components of a comprehensive health care supervision program.     

Foster care reunification: An exploration of non-linear hierarchical modeling

Hierarchical or multilevel models are based on the same fundamental concepts that apply to simple linear models. The linear forms of these models can be interpreted with relative ease as parameter estimates do not differ in magnitude or interpretation from standard non-hierarchical models. Non-linear hierarchical models, however, are more complex as the introduction of a random intercept means that parameter estimates must be interpreted as “subject-specific” rather than “population-averaged”. Depending on the specifics of the data being modeled, these parameters may be very different in magnitude. In this article we provide two examples of non-linear hierarchical modeling using administrative child welfare data. For each example, we estimate the odds of reunification for a cohort of children in California using both standard logistic regression models and random intercept models.     

Foster care: The protection and training of carers' children

One of the risk factors in foster placement breakdown is the presence of the carers' own children. A project is described through which carers' children express their feelings and conflicts and present a demand for a review of foster care, to be seen as care by families, not only parents. Many children in care have a powerful psychological impact on their carers, and the impact on other children in the household is underestimated and poorly understood. There is a confusion of role between carers' children and children who are fostered—on the one hand, the former are peers, and on the other, considerable demands of patience and understanding are made on them. This understanding, and perhaps also fear of allegations, may make them prematurely adult and distort aspects of their own development. The need for further research into the direct experience of foster care is highlighted and a training model of preparation for carers and their children is described, based on direct work with adolescents.     

Action-oriented evaluation of an in-home family therapy program for families at risk for foster care placement

The purpose of this study was to conduct an action-oriented evaluation of an in-home family therapy program serving families deemed at risk for the placement of children in foster care. In this study, feedback was solicited from both clients and therapists. Results indicate "duality" associated with several aspects of in-home family therapy, including the opportunity to observe families in their own homes versus the vulnerability some families feel when therapy is conducted in-home; therapists suggesting that sufficient training is required for in-home family therapy to be effective versus clients' opinions that therapists' lived experiences are more relevant; and the importance of the therapeutic alliance versus feelings of abandonment upon termination. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Child care in an age of family differences

The importance of understanding America's day care needs has become a major issue in society today. Understanding these needs involves more than simply providing spaces for care. The uniqueness of each family's situation requires research into differing family expectations. This paper provides some insight into differences between single mothers and fathers in their utilization of child care.     

Foster family acceptance: Understanding the role of foster family acceptance in the lives of LGBTQ youth

LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system have historically received very little attention. The limited research available suggests that they encounter a number of disparities and double standards when compared to straight youth. The current study examines the role that foster family acceptance plays in the lives of LGBTQ youth as they navigate the child welfare system. The experiences of LGBTQ foster care alumni who had accepting foster family experiences are compared to those who had rejecting experiences. Findings suggest that foster family acceptance plays a pivotal role in creating an affirming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ youth. Similarly, findings provide further evidence for the need to educate, train, and recruit affirming and accepting foster families.     

Foster care and the earned income tax credit

Foster care is a source of significant costs to both governments and foster children. Policies that provide income support to households potentially reduce entry into foster care via reducing child maltreatment and improving child behavior. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 (ARRA2009), the federal government expanded the earned income tax credit (EITC), which is an important income support program for low-income working households. Using state-level data, we investigate the impact of this EITC expansion on state-level foster care entry rates. Typically, states with state-level EITC match federal EITC spending at a specific rate, meaning that increases in federal EITC spending increase state-level spending as well. We find that expansion of EITC decreased foster care entry rates by 7.43% per year in states with a state-level EITC, relative to those without. In models that separately examine foster care entry rates by age of the child, we find that the ARRA2009 had different effects on foster care entry based on the child’s age. We find that ARRA2009 decreased foster care entry rates for children age 11–15 by nearly 12% in states with a state EITC and it decreased foster care entry rates for children age 16–20 by roughly 17% in states with a state EITC, relative to states without a state EITC.     

Foster youth emancipating from care: caseworkers' reports on needs and services

This article presents findings from a survey mailed to caseworkers, who answered questions about special needs, independent living skills, educational attainment, and services for 416 randomly selected foster youth in Illinois. A third of the adolescents had a mental health disorder, developmental disability, or other special need that their caseworkers believed would interfere with their ability to live independently. Additionally, urban youth were underserved relative to other youth. Youth with more behavior problems and educational and job skill deficits were less likely than other youth to continue to receive child welfare services past age 18, suggesting that services must be provided throughout adolescence to meet the needs of the most vulnerable clients.     

Foster families and residential care for older children: some interpersonal dynamics

This paper compares the interpersonal dynamics of the family and residential care for older children within the context of ecologically based permanency planning where the birth family will be the preferred source of permanence in most cases. The author argues, on the basis of a review of the research, that foster care has a great deal to offer many children and is undoubtedly preferable for young children, but residential care is a genuine and important alternative for some older children. She concludes that the decision for placement should rest on a comprehensive assessment, taking into account consumer views.     

Foster youth transitions to adulthood: a longitudinal view of youth leaving care

The well-being of youths who age out of the out-of-home care system in the U.S. has long been of great interest to child welfare practitioners and policymakers. In spite of this interest, however, very little is known about how these youths fare when they must make the transition to independence. The Foster Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study is tracking the experiences of 141 young adults who left care in Wisconsin in 1995 and 1996. This article describes these youths and their experiences in the first 12 to 18 months after leaving care. The findings suggest that the transition to independence is a difficult time for youth leaving the out-of-home care system.     

Residential care of the child-mother and her infant: an extended family concept.

A residential programs for single, young mothers and their infants uses the concept of a new extended family to achieve several purposes: training the mothers in parenting skill, giving them a chance of complete educations or vocational preparation, and providing care and developmental opportunity for the infants.