From Child Abuse to Foster Care: Child Welfare Services Pathways and Placements

by Barth,Richard P.

• ISBN13: 9780202363974
• ISBN10: 020236397X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-11-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

More than two million child abuse reports are filed annually on behalf of children in the United States. Each of the reported children becomes a concern, at least temporarily, of the professional who files the report, and each family is assessed by additional professionals. A substantial number of children in these families will subsequently enter foster care. Until now, the relationships between the performance of our child welfare system and the growth and outcomes of foster care have not been understood. In an effort to clarify them, Barth and his colleagues have synthesized the results of their longitudinal study in California of the paths taken by children after the initial abuse report: foster care, a return to their homes, or placement for adoption. Because the outcomes of child welfare services in California have national significance, this is far more than a regional study. It provides a comprehensive picture of childrenrs"s experiences in the child welfare system and a gauge of the effectiveness of that system. The policy implications of the California study have bearing on major federal and state initiatives to prevent child abuse and reduce unnecessary foster and group home care.Richard P. Barth is dean of the School of Social Work and professor at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of numerous books in The Child Welfare Challenge and Adoption and Prenatal Drug Exposure.Mark Courtney is director of research and development and the Ballmer Endowed Chair for Child Well-Being at the University of Washington School of Social Work.Jill Duerr Berrick is Zellerbach Family Professor and co-director, Center for Child and Youth Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.Vicky Albert is associate professor of social work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the author of Welfare Dependence and Welfare Policy.

Author Biography

Richard P. Barth is dean of the School of Social Work and professor at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of numerous books including The Child Welfare Challenge and Adoption and Prenatal Drug Exposure. Mark Courtney is director of research and development and the Ballmer Endowed Chair for Child Well-Being at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Jill Duerr Berrick is Zellerbach Family Professor and co-director, Center for Child and Youth Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Vicky Albert is associate professor of social work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the author of Welfare Dependence and Welfare Policy.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Examining Child Abuse and Child Welfare Caseloads and Careers
Understanding Pathways to Permanency	p. 3
Toward Dynamic Data	p. 9
Our Approach to the Study of Pathways and Placements	p. 16
The Future of Permanency Planning	p. 18
Growth in Child Abuse Reports and Child Welfare Services Caseloads	p. 23
Reform of California Child Welfare Services	p. 24
Trends in California's Emergency Response Dispositions	p. 25
Trends in California's Family Maintenance Caseload	p. 27
Trends in California's Foster Care Caseload	p. 27
Comparison of Trends	p. 31
Modeling the Number of Child Abuse Reports	p. 33
Time Series Results	p. 41
Summary and Implications	p. 43
The Simulations	p. 45
Summary, Policy, and Practice Implications	p. 49
Appendix	p. 52
From Child Abuse Report to Child Welfare Services	p. 55
Sample Selection and Characteristics	p. 56
The Referral Process	p. 58
Types and Sources of Referrals	p. 59
Referrals: Number and Length of Time between Referrals	p. 65
Disposition Reasons	p. 68
Summary and Policy Objectives	p. 71
Notes	p. 74
Analyzing Foster Care Pathways
Rethinking and Researching Length of Stay in Foster Care	p. 79
Previous Research on Duration of Foster Care	p. 80
Cross-Sectional Point-in-Time Studies	p. 80
Retrospective or Longitudinal Studies Using Non-Event-History Methods	p. 83
Event-History Analysis of Length of Stay in Foster Care	p. 90
Conclusion	p. 100
Notes	p. 103
Reunification from Kinship and Nonkinship Foster Care	p. 105
A Proportional-Hazards Model	p. 114
Kinship Care: Just Another Placement Option, or Something Completely Different?	p. 122
Summary	p. 128
Notes	p. 132
Factors Associated with Entrance to Group Care	p. 135
Sample and Method	p. 138
First Placement in Group Care	p. 138
Later Placement in Group Care	p. 143
Summary	p. 147
Notes	p. 152
Time to Adoption	p. 153
Odds of Adoption	p. 156
Odds of Timely Adoption and Adoption Legalization	p. 163
Discussion	p. 173
Child and Placement Characteristics
Specialized Foster Care: A Home for Children with Special Needs	p. 179
Who is the Professional Foster Parent?	p. 183
Why Be a Specialized Foster Parent?	p. 184
Length of Stay in the Field	p. 185
Satisfaction with the Experience	p. 186
A Look at Specialized Foster Care Agencies	p. 186
Discussion	p. 189
Kinship Care: Rights and Responsibilities, Services and Standards with Barbara Needell	p. 195
The Evolution of Kin Placement	p. 195
Study Format	p. 200
Demographic Characteristics of Caregivers	p. 203
The Path toward Placement	p. 208
Characteristics	p. 209
Discussion	p. 214
Summary	p. 216
Notes	p. 219
Group Care for Children	p. 221
A Survey of Group Care Providers	p. 223
The Future of Group Care	p. 228
Discussion	p. 230
Summary	p. 232
Similarities and Differences in the Characteristics of Children in Out-of-Home Care	p. 235
A Comparative Look at Children in Out-of-Home Care	p. 237
Discussion	p. 248
Notes	p. 252
Implications
Trends and Recommendations for the Next Decade	p. 255
Child Abuse Reports Continue to Spiral Upward	p. 255
Child Abuse Assessments are the Most Common Child Welfare Service	p. 257
Child Welfare Services Become Increasingly Articulated and Accountable	p. 257
Child Welfare Services are Focusing on Infants and Young Children	p. 258
Kinship Foster Care Swells	p. 259
Foster Care is Getting Harder to Enter and Harder to Leave	p. 261
Special-Needs Adoption Gains and Loses Prominence	p. 262
Guardianship Will Expand	p. 264
Integration of Family Preservation, Assessment and Referral	p. 265
The Length of Foster Care Is Rising Again	p. 266
The Expansion of Shared Family Care	p. 268
The Information and Outcome Age are Dawning	p. 268
Rationalizing Out-of-Home Care	p. 271
Independent Living Skills Programs Will Evolve	p. 272
Specialized Foster Care Will Expand	p. 272
Conclusions	p. 273
References	p. 275
Author Index	p. 288
Subject Index	p. 291
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