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.     

Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Cases Involving Preschool-Aged Children: A Study of Swedish Cases from 2010 to 2014

Alleged child sexual abuse against preschool-aged children is often considered one of the most challenging cases for a prosecutor to handle. The aim of the current study was to examine differences between prosecuted and discontinued cases of alleged sexual abuse of preschool-aged children. Data from Swedish criminal cases of alleged sexual abuse of children ages 2–6 issued from 2010 to 2014 were analyzed (N = 130). Prosecuted cases were more likely to contain forensic evidence (documentation of abuse, corroborative DNA evidence, or a corroborative medical examination), or a confession from the suspect, while such evidence was not available in any discontinued case. Furthermore, cases where the child was older, where the prosecutor had decided to conduct an interview with the child, and where there was more than one alleged victim were more likely to be prosecuted. Factors that were associated with a decreased likelihood of prosecution were ongoing custody disputes between parents, foster care placements prior to the abuse, and if the report concerned a boy. Boys and younger children were also less likely to be interviewed. The results suggest that prosecution of sexual abuse cases involving preschool-aged children remains difficult and that there is room for improvements in these investigations.     

The surprisingly weak evidence base for supervision: Findings from a systematic review of research in child welfare practice (2000–2012)

Objective

The objective of this study is to ascertain what is known about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of supervision in child welfare in relation to outcomes for consumers/service users, staff and organizations.

Method

This is a systematic review of the English language literature (2000–2012). Scoping study is followed by database searches of indexes and abstracts including Campbell Collaboration, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Medline, PsycInfo and Social Work Abstracts, journal hosts (EBSCO and IngentaConnect) plus specialist journals. Inclusion criteria: studies that reported on the associations between the provision of supervision and outcomes for service users/consumers, workers and organizations as well as intervention studies. Potentially relevant studies were independently screened by two reviewers (Stage 1) and if meeting the eligibility criteria proceed to full text review and data extraction (Stage 2). Studies were subject to critical appraisal by three reviewers using the Weight of Evidence approach (Stage 3). An analysis of included study characteristics is followed by a narrative synthesis of findings structured to answer the research objective.

Results

690 unique studies were identified at Stage 1, 35 proceeded to Stage 2 and, following quality appraisal, 21 were included in the review. Almost all of the studies were cross-sectional, providing evidence of associations between the provision of supervision and a variety of outcomes for workers, including job satisfaction, self-efficacy and stress and for organizations, including workload management, case analysis and retention. There was only one, poorly reported, intervention study and no studies of outcomes for consumers. No economic evaluations were found.

Conclusions

The evidence base for the effectiveness of supervision in child welfare is surprisingly weak. An agenda for research based on a framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions is proposed.     

The relationship of placement experience to school absenteeism and changing schools in young,school-aged children in foster care

Background

Chronic school absenteeism and frequent school changes, particularly among younger children, may be antecedents for the high rates of school failure and subsequent dropout among youth in foster care. However, the relationship of foster care experience to absenteeism and school change has not been well studied.

Objective

This study examined the association of placement experience with absenteeism and changing schools among 209 urban children in foster care enrolled in public elementary schools.

Methods

A cohort of children aged 5 to 8 years who entered non-relative or kinship foster care from 2006–2008 were followed longitudinally for 2 years from entry into foster care. Children residing in foster care were categorized at the end of the study as early stable, late stable, or unstable, if they achieved a permanent placement prior to 45 days, between 45 days and 9 months, or failed to do so within 9 months, respectively. Children who reunified home were classified as a fourth category. Poisson regression, controlling for baseline factors, was used to compare days absent and number of schools attended across categories of placement experience.

Results

Among the 209 children, 51% were male, 79% were African American, and 55% were initially placed with kin. One third of children reunified home; among children who did not reunify, one half was early stable, and a third was unstable. Adjusted rates of school absenteeism increased in stepwise fashion as children's placements became more unstable; children with unstable placements were 37% more likely to be absent than those with early placement stability (p = 0.029). Children who reunified during the study demonstrated the highest rates of absenteeism; however, there was no significant difference in absenteeism before or after reunification. Number of schools attended increased as stability worsened, with the standardized rate of schools attended reaching 3.6 schools (95% CI 3.1–4.1) over a two year period among children in unstable placements.

Conclusions

The relationship between placement experience and school absenteeism and school change illustrates the need to better coordinate the educational experience of high-risk children in foster care. The secondary finding of high absenteeism among children in the process of returning home illustrates that educational challenges for youth may be equally if not more concerning among the greater majority of youth in child welfare who remain home with birth parents.     

Evolution of Residential Custody Arrangements in Separated Families

Summary

This study tracks the evolution of three types of residential custody arrangements over a two-year period: sole custody with the father (n = 59 children), sole custody with the mother (n = 69 children), and joint custody (n = 69 children). Three categories of change were defined: (a) no change, (b) minor change (changing the schedule of visits or residence with a parent), and (c) major change (changing the custody arrangement). The results show that a minority of children changed custody arrangement but almost half the children in joint custody changed custody arrangements during the two years of the study. More young children and more girls changed custody arrangements, and girls who changed custody usually went to their mothers. With time, a type of polarization may be observed toward sole custody because there were less parents truly active in child custody at T2 than at Tl.     

The transition from in-home services to out-of-home care: A Danish register-based study

Objective

This register-based study describes the transition from in home-based care to placements in out-of-home care. It also describes whether children who enter care directly differ from children who enter care after episodes of in home-based care.

Method

The study includes all children who entered the child protection system of a larger regional social service system in Denmark from 1993 to 2006 (N = 9961). Graphs of cumulative incidences were used to describe transitions into out-of-home care within two years after in home-based care started. Cox regression models are used to estimate the impacts of child and parental characteristics. In addition, Chi² tests are used to identify differences between children who enter care directly and children who receive in home-based care.

Results

Results indicate that the majority of children do not enter out-of-home care but that risks differ among age groups. Covariates did not predict transitions into out-of-home care for those who entered in-home care after becoming teenagers. Especially for those who entered in-home care before entering their teens, the psychiatric histories of the mothers and the children predicted the transitions into out-of-home care. Immigration background was a protective factor for those who entered in-home care as pre-scholars. Depending on the age group, low birth weight, children's fathers' and mothers' psychiatric histories, and single parentship were all characteristics more likely to be associated with children who entered care directly. Children who entered care directly differed from children who entered care within two years after an in home-based service had been initiated on covariates that described psychiatric history.     

Judgments regarding parental alienation when parental hostility or child sexual abuse is alleged

Abstract

Allegations of Parental Alienation (PA), the systematic disparaging of one parent by the other parent aimed at alienating their child’s affections, as a basis for child custody decisions are highly controversial. Claims of parental hostility or allegations of child sexual abuse in custody cases may trigger concerns about PA. Family court professionals (N?=?280) rated young children’s accuracy of report (e.g., suggestibility, honesty) in general and also read three custody scenarios varying as to whether or not they included allegations of parental hostility or child sexual abuse, or no such allegations. For each scenario, the alleged alienating parent’s gender was experimentally varied between subjects. Participants rated the likelihood that each case involved PA. For the scenario that included allegations of child sexual abuse, professionals who viewed young children as more inaccurate reporters or who read about the mother (rather than a father) as the alleged alienator were more likely to rate the scenario as involving PA. For the scenario that described parental hostility but no child sexual abuse allegations, professionals who were older or female were more likely to judge the scenario as involving parental alienation when a mother (rather than a father) was the alleged alienator, whereas there were no significant predictors of responses to the no-allegation scenarios. Findings are discussed in relation to the difficult task of evaluating custody cases for PA when parental hostility or child sexual abuse is alleged.     

Union Dissolution and Mobility: Who Moves From the Family Home After Separation?

We investigate which partner of a 2‐gender couple moves out after separation. We test hypotheses on the impact of differences between the partners in the costs of moving out and resources, using data from the Divorce in the Netherlands survey (N = 1,537 ex‐couples who separated between 1972 and 1998). Ex‐partners initiating the separation were more likely to leave, as were those for whom a new partnership was a reason for the separation. An ex‐partner with custody of children was less likely to leave, as was an ex‐partner with more resources. A woman was less likely to leave when the joint children no longer lived at home or when the partnership had been longer lasting.     

EXIT FROM THE HOSPITAL INDUSTRY

We study the exit of hospitals from the market for inpatient services. More generous hospital reimbursement significantly reduces the probability of exit throughout the 1990s. Conditional on reimbursement levels, hospital efficiency was not a significant determinant in the early 1990s but in the mid‐ to late 1990s, less efficient hospitals were significantly more likely to exit. Throughout the period, high‐tech services increased the probability of survival, and for‐profit hospitals were more likely to exit. The role of Medicare as a determinant of exit became less important in the latter half of the 1990s. (JEL I11, L11)     

Juvenile justice sentencing: Do gender and child welfare involvement matter?

For young people who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, how they are sentenced following an arrest may profoundly influence the course of their development and adjustment as adults. Much of the research to date has focused on racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice sentencing policies and practices, and less is known about sentencing disparities based on other youth characteristics. Using Los Angeles County administrative data, this study investigates the effects of gender and child welfare statuses on sentencing for young people who are arrested for the first time (N = 5061). Results indicate that both young men and women are sentenced more harshly dependent upon the disposition, such that girls were more likely to be sentenced to group homes compared to boys, but boys were more likely to be sentenced to correctional facilities compared to girls. Child welfare-involved youth with a recent placement history are prone to more punitive sentences compared to their non-child welfare counterparts. Further, child welfare young women were not more likely to be sentenced to a harsher disposition compared to child welfare young men or non-child welfare young women. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Decision-Making Criteria in Child Custody Disputes That Involve Requests for Overnight Visits with Infants and Toddlers: Derived from a Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

The court, child custody evaluators, and mediators are often faced with difficult decisions regarding how to best meet the needs of children from families who are involved in child custody disputes. In some cases, the court, child custody evaluators and mediators are asked to make decisions about parenting plans for infants and toddlers. When decision makers are faced with actual cases, they are likely to be assisted by lines of inquiry that help them gather the most relevant data to answer the question at hand. A review of the literature has led to the development of 13 criteria that decision makers can use to reach conclusions about whether overnight visits would be advisable with a given infant or toddler. The criteria are considered neutral and are not based on any bias or preconceived opinion about whether overnights with infants and toddlers are or are not advisable. Instead, the criteria proposed provide the decision-maker with an objective way of structuring their thinking about a particular case to insure that all pertinent information has been considered before reaching a conclusion about whether overnight visitation is in the best interest of a given child.     

Ethnic Variations in the Two-Year Living Arrangements of Prenatally Drug-Exposed and Comparison Children Placed at Birth

ABSTRACT

This study reports on the outcomes of foster home placements of 1,038 African American, Latino, and White infants, prenatally exposed to drugs, removed from their mothers' custody at birth and placed in foster care and the outcomes of a comparison group of 203 infants similarly removed, but not known to have been drug-exposed. Twenty-four months after placement, slightly more than half of the White drug-exposed infants were still under court supervision, and two thirds of the African American and Hispanic infants. A similar situation existed for the comparison group, but the ethnic distributions were reversed. Although African American children predominated in the proportion that were in kinship care, the largest proportion of both Latino and White children were in kinship care. Policy and practice implications are discussed in terms of enhancing placement outcomes for prenatally drug-exposed infants in general and in terms of encouraging placement options that may vary depending upon the ethnicity of the child and the child's kinship ties.     

Relations between postdivorce custody arrangements,family contexts,and children’s adjustment

The goal of the present study was to shed light on the relation between postseparation custody arrangements and family contexts in which school-age children (8–12 years old) live so as to better understand the processes underlying their adjustment. The sample was composed of 112 dyads (parents and children) from families in joint custody (n?=?37) or maternal custody (n?=?75). The dyads were met with twice at a 1-year interval. Compared with those in joint custody, the respondents with sole custody had a negative opinion of the transitions between homes and had the impression that the children were more involved in interparental conflicts. This analysis showed that the difficult nature of transitions between homes was a crucial mediating variable in the relation between conflicts and the children’s adjustment, but that other variables, such as the relational problems with the mother, played a role, particularly in joint custody situations.     

Child custody placement outcomes for mothers

Internationally there is a broad literature on risks for child custody placements. In contrast, very little is known about their outcomes on parents. The topic is relevant not only for parents themselves but also for children placed outside their homes, as many children keep contact with their birth parents or return to live with them. In a retrospective cohort study setting we analyze child custody placement outcomes (social assistance receipt, unemployment and work disability) for mothers whose children had been taken into custody between 1997 and 2004 in Finland. Data from a child placement register were merged with several administrative social insurance registers. Comparison groups of population mothers are included in the study. The procedure yielded an internationally unique database. According to the results of our study, mothers whose children are taken into custody are more often unemployed and in need of social assistance than mothers in the comparison group. Furthermore, they are also more often on a disability pension, due to mental health problems in particular, than mothers in general. While considering the results, we examine family policy and general welfare policy implications of support to families whose children have been taken into custody.     

Introduction

Abstract

This article introduces the initial issue of the new Journal of Child Custody and lays the framework for an emerging field. To date there is no peer-reviewed journal dedicated specifically and only to issues related to child custody. Something has been missing in the field of child custody. The Journal of Child Custody provides the missing piece in the puzzle called child custody.     

Placement of Children Born to Drug Using Mothers: A Preliminary Study in Israel

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to track the placement of babies born to drug addicted mothers in Tel Aviv, Israel. Records of 120 children born to drug addicted mothers between 1990 and 1998 were examined to ascertain their placements. Data were collected on withdrawal symptoms in the newborn and on the mothers' socio-economic features. Fifty percent of the infants were placed in temporary settings, and sixty percent of the children initially entrusted to their mother remained in her care. Mothers whose infants were drug free were most likely to keep their infants at birth and to provide the greatest permanency. Those who were better educated and financially better off were also more likely to keep their newborn children, although they did not provide greater permanency.     

Long-term changes in parenting and child behavior after the Home-Start family support program

Background

The intervention Home-Start is a wide spread program in a number of countries, among which the Netherlands. In Home-Start, trained volunteers visit families with young children in need of support once or twice a week to help them to deal with problems in family life and parenting. Little is known, however, about the effects of Home-Start. This study describes short-term and long term changes in families that participated in Home-Start.

Methods

Three groups of families with young children (at the start mean age 1 1/2 years) were followed over a period of four years. One of the groups of families participated in the Home-Start family support program in the first 6.6 months of this period. The two other groups were (1) a randomly selected community sample and (2) a group of families with elevated parenting stress and a need for support. Data were collected at the beginning of the study, (after median 1.4 months), directly after the intervention (median 6.6 months) and at two follow-up occasions (respectively, median 12.5 and 49.2 months after the first measurement). At the last measurement, data were available for 33, 45 and 34 families respectively.

Results

Multilevel analysis showed more positive changes in parental wellbeing, competence and behavior (more consistent behavior and less rejection) during the intervention period in the Home-Start group than in the two other groups. At the three year follow up, the Home-Start group showed, compared to the other groups, more improvements in parenting (more responsiveness), but also diminished child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems (less oppositional defiant behavior, affective problems and anxiety problems).

Conclusions

Home-Start seems a promising family support intervention that deserves to be studied more extensively.     

Wives' Relative Wages,Husbands' Paid Work Hours,and Wives' Labor‐Force Exit

Economic theories predict that women are more likely to exit the labor force if their partners' earnings are higher and if their own wage rate is lower. In this article, I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 2,254) and discrete‐time event‐history analysis to show that wives' relative wages are more predictive of their exit than are their own or their husbands' absolute wages. In addition, I show that women married to men who work more than 45 hours per week are more likely to exit the labor force than are wives whose husbands' work approximately 40 hours per week. My findings highlight the need to examine how women's partners affect women's labor‐force participation.     

When the relationships fail: A microperspective on consumer responses to service failure

This article investigated the consumer response mechanism in a service failure context. A service failure response model was introduced that incorporated emotive antecedents, a mediation process, and 4 behavioral outcomes. Data were collected via an online survey (N = 371) and further analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach. The results confirmed the service failure response model: Anger and dissatisfaction were emotive antecedents that lead to consumers’ exit, voice, and revenge responses. This process was mediated by desire for avoidance and desire for revenge.     

Abusers gaining custody in family courts: A case series of over turned decisions

Abstract

This article presents findings and recommendations based on an in-depth examination of records from 27 custody cases from across the United States. The goal of this case series was to determine why family courts may place children with a parent that the child alleges abused them rather than with the nonoffending parent. We focused on “turned around cases” involving allegations of child abuse that were at first viewed as false and later judged to be valid. The average time a child spent in the court ordered custody of an abusive parent was 3.2?years. In all cases we uncovered the father was the abusive parent and the mother sought to protect their child. Results revealed that initially courts were highly suspicious of mothers' motives for being concerned with abuse. These mothers were often treated poorly and two-thirds of the mothers were pathologized by the court for advocating for the safety of their children. Judges who initially ordered children into custody or visitation with abusive parents relied mainly on reports by custody evaluators and guardians ad litem who mistakenly accused mothers of attempting to alienate their children from the father or having coached the child to falsely report abuse. As a result, 59% of perpetrators were given sole custody and the rest were given joint custody or unsupervised visitation. After failing to be protected in the first custody determination, 88% of children reported new incidents of abuse. The abuse often became increasingly severe and the children's mental and physical health frequently deteriorated. The main reason that cases turned around was because protective parents were able to present compelling evidence of the abuse and back the evidence up with reports by mental health professionals who had specific expertise in child abuse rather than merely custody assessment.