A Comparison of Subsidized Guardianship and Child Welfare Adoptive Families Served by the Illinois Adoption and Guardianship Preservation Program

Abstract

This study compares the outcomes of 113 subsidized guardianship families and 733 child welfare adoptive families served by a therapeutic counseling program for adoptive/guardianship families at risk of child placement or dissolution. No significant differences are found in the percentage of children in placement at the end of services or the level or parental commitment to their children. Children in subsidized guardianship families are more likely to be minority children who are older at removal from their birth families and at placement with their current families. Also they are less likely to have a history of abuse than children in adoptive families.