Disruptions in foster care: A review and meta-analysis

Children in substitute care: Some conceptual considerations and research implications

Objective. Returning children to their biological families after placement in foster care (ie, reunification) has been prioritized with legislation. Comprehensive studies of child behavioral health functioning after reunification, however, have not been conducted. This study examined outcomes for youth who were reunified after placement in foster care as compared with youth who did not reunify. Design. Prospective cohort. Setting. Children who entered foster care in San Diego, California, and who remained in foster care for at least 5 months. Participants. A cohort of 149 ethnically diverse youth, 7 to 12 years old, who entered foster care between May 1990, and October 1991. Seventy-five percent of those interviewed at Time 1 were interviewed at Time 2 (6 years later). Outcome Measures. 1) Risk behaviors: delinquent, sexual, self-destructive, substance use, and total risk behaviors; 2) Life-course outcomes: pregnancy, tickets/arrests, suspensions, dropping out of school, and grades; 3) Current symptomatology: externalizing, internalizing, total behavior problems, and total competence. Results. Compared with youth who were not reunified, reunified youth showed more self-destructive behavior (0.15 vs −0.11), substance use (0.16 vs −0.11), and total risk behavior problem standardized scores (0.12 vs −0.09). Reunified youth were more likely to have received a ticket or have been arrested (49.2% vs 30.2%), to have dropped out of school (20.6% vs 9.4%), and to have received lower grades (6.5 vs 7.4). Reunified youth reported more current problems in internalizing behaviors (56.6 vs 53.0), and total behavior problems (59.5 vs 55.7), and lower total competence (41.1 vs 45.0). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups on delinquency, sexual behaviors, pregnancy, suspensions, or externalizing behaviors. Reunification status was a significant predictor of negative outcomes in 8 of the 9 regression equations after controlling for Time 1 behavior problems, age, and gender. Conclusions. These findings suggest that youth who reunify with their biological families after placement in foster care have more negative outcomes than youth who do not reunify. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.

/pdf/children-who-return-home-from-foster-care-a-6-year-uwtwzzbxcc.pdf

Children Who Return Home From Foster Care: A 6-Year Prospective Study of Behavioral Health Outcomes in Adolescence

Background: By 2008, 12 million children in sub-Saharan Africa were orphaned by AIDS. Cross-sectional studies show psychological problems for AIDS-orphaned children, but until now no longitudinal study has explored enduring psychological effects of AIDS-orphanhood in the developing world. Methods: A 4-year longitudinal follow-up of AIDS-orphaned children with control groups of otherorphans and non-orphans. 1021 children (M = 13.4 years, 50% female, 98% isiXhosa-speaking) were interviewed in 2005 and followed up in 2009 with 71% retention (49% female, M = 16.9 years), in poor urban South African settlements. Children were interviewed using sociodemographic questionnaires and well-validated standardised scales for assessing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Data were analysed using mixed-design ANOVA and backward-stepping regression. Results: AIDS-orphaned children showed higher depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores in both 2005 and 2009 when compared with other-orphans and non-orphans. Backward-stepping regression, controlling for baseline mental health, and sociodemographic cofactors such as age, gender, and type of bereavement, revealed that being AIDS-orphaned in 2005 was associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD scores in 2009. This was not the case for other-orphaned or non-orphaned children. Age interacted with orphan status, such that there was a steep rise in psychological distress in the AIDS-orphaned group, but no rise with age amongst other-orphans and non-orphans. Conclusions: Negative mental health outcomes amongst AIDS-orphaned children are maintained and worsen over a 4-year period. It is important that psychosocial support programmes are sustained, and focus on youth as well as young children. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, orphans, adolescents, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress.

/pdf/persisting-mental-health-problems-among-aids-orphaned-14ckxb5ta4.pdf

Persisting mental health problems among AIDS-orphaned children in South Africa

Foster care placement instability: A meta-analytic review.

Fifty years ago the Children Act (1948) created the modern child care service in England and Wales. Then, as now, the preferred form of state-provided care for children was foster, rather than residential, care. However, the nature of foster family care has changed considerably over the past 50 years and, in some respects, so have the children fostered. Then the predominant form of foster care was long-term care, in keeping with the prevailing ideology of “rescuing” children from intolerable home conditions. Now, by contrast, foster care is a much more diverse service, and the commonest form is short-term care, which is generally understood as care intended to last less than roughly 3 months. This is in keeping with a strong ideology in both the U.S.A. and the U.K. that foster care is not parenting, and that almost all children are best off with their biological parents.

Annotation : Outcomes in long-term foster family care

Reaching high risk families—Intensive family preservation in human services

Residential Care for Children. A Review of the Research.

166 boys living in a deprived inner city area in Northern England, and born between 1944 and 1953 were followed up through local and national criminal records to an average age of 30. As adults, just over a quarter (26%) had a conviction for an offence against the person. Having a conviction for ‘violence’ was strongly associated with juvenile delinquency and conduct disorder. It was also found to be associated with certain deficiencies and distorted relationships in the natural home. Although boys who had been in public care for short periods contained a relatively high proportion of subjects later convicted of crimes against the person, the proportion among boys who were virtually brought up in care was much lower. There was also an inverse ratio between the length of time spent in care and the number of violent offences committed in adult life by boys committed to care for offences and being beyond control.

Public Care or Distorted Family Relationships: the Antecedents of Violent Crime

Daisybank 1983-1989. An audit of a residential home preparing adolescents for permanent placements.

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