Courts,kin, and children: Determinants of court-ordered kin involvement in child protection proceedings

Researchers such as Stack (1983–1984) have suggested that social service providers and administrators such as courts are generally unaware of the existence of extended kinship resources among poor families and, as a consequence, that they are unlikely to use these resources in efforts to treat problems such as alleged child maltreatment. Partially as a response to these suggestions, policy analysts and researchers have become interested in the use of kin in the treatment of child maltreatment. This interest is also the result of suggestions that kin may offer social support for troubled families and that placement of children with kin may be less traumatic to them and more cost-effective than alternative placements. For child protection cases that reach the judicial system, it is the courts that sanction the utilization of kin and other resources in the treatment of child maltreatment cases. Yet, little is known about either the extent to which the courts currently use kin resources or the determinants of utilization. Using data from a representative sample (N=210) of North Carolina child protection cases, estimates were made of the degree to which kin were utilized by the courts. Next, a multivariate predictive model of the determinants of kin utilization was developed. In this context, two hypotheses related to kin utilization were tested. It was found that the courts ordered kin involvement in the disposition of 62% of all cases. Eleven variables were found to significantly influence the use of kinship resources in these cases. Several of the independent variables in the model are policy relevant and their implications are discussed in the paper's conclusion.