Transcript Foster Care Reentry after Reunification

Foster Care Reentry after
Reunification – Reentry in One or
Two years – what’s the difference?
Terry V. Shaw, MSW
Daniel Webster, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
School of Social Welfare
This research is funded by the California Department
of Social Services and the Stuart Foundation
Presented Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at the 45th Annual National
Association for Welfare Research and Statistics Workshop.
Outline
1. Brief overview of federal outcome
measures related to reentries.
2. Overview of prior research on foster care
reentries.
3. Discussion of the population and
methods used for this project.
4. Examination of the results.
5. Conclusions
Outcomes, outcomes, everywhere
(or why bother looking at reentry?)
There have been multiple instances of federal
legislation calling for the development of
Child Welfare outcome measures.
• Government Performance and Results Act of
1993 (GPRA)
Outcomes, outcomes … continued
ASFA (the Adoption and Safe Families Act)
mandated that outcome reports be given to
Congress.
• Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect,
• Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster
care,
• Increase permanency for children in foster care,
• Reduce time in foster care to reunification without increasing
re-entry,
• Reduce time in foster care to adoption,
• Increase placement stability, and
• Reduce placements of young children in group homes or
institutions.
Outcomes, outcomes … continued
• Statewide Data Indicators in Child and
Family Services Reviews (a subset of the
Annual Outcomes)
• We want to ensure that children are in safe
and stable homes. Reentering care is a
sign that the reunification was not optimal.
Foster Care Reentries
Does not follow children through care from
their initial entry to the reunification and then
to reentry.
The federal measure does not look at reentries
after 12 months even though Reentry
continues to occur well after 12 months.
Longitudinal alternative:
For all children who enter care and are
reunified, what percent reenter within 3
months, 12 months, 24 months after
reunification?
Previous Research on Reentry to Care
Authors and Articles
Courtney, Mark E. (1994). "Factors Associated with the Reunification of
Foster Children with Their Families." Social Service Review 68 (1): 81-108
Festinger, T. (1994). Returning to Care: Discharge and Reentry into Foster
Care. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Frame, L., Berrick, J.D., Brodowski, M.L. (2000) “Understanding reentry to
foster care for reunified infants.” Child Welfare, 79 (4), pp. 339-369 .
Frame, L., (2002) “Maltreatment reports and placement outcomes for
infants and toddlers in out-of-home care.” Infant Mental Health Journal, 23
(5), pp. 517-540 .
Wells, Kathleen and Shenyang Guo (1999) “Reunification and Reentry of
Foster Children.” Children and Youth Services Review, 21 (4): 273-294
Wulczyn, Fred (1991). "Caseload Dynamics and Foster Care Reentry."
Social Service Review 65: 133-156.
Research on Reentry to Care
• Length of Time in Care prior to
Reunification.
• Type of placement a child experiences in
foster care.
• Number of placements while in foster
care.
• Race/Ethnicity of the Child.
• Age of child at entry into foster care.
Research on Reentry (continued…)
• Reason for removal from home or entry
into the foster care system.
• Caregiver Drug/Alcohol use.
• Poverty status (children receiving AFDC).
• Marital status (single or multi-parent
homes).
• Geographic location (urban/rural).
• Child health factors.
Study Population
• First Entries to Child Welfare Supervised Foster
Care in California (1998-2001).
• Initial stays greater than 5 days.
• Children reunifying within 12 months of initial
entry into foster care.
• Missing placement types excluded.
• Question: Are there differences between the
children reentering care within 12 months and
those reentering care from 12 to 24 months?
Limitations
• The data for this study is based on an
administrative data system.
• Measures of drug/alcohol services only
examine recommended services, not
whether the services were used.
Results
• Sibling correction was used allowing for the inclusion of all
siblings in a sibling group.
• Adjustments in standard errors made by using GEE
(Generalized Estimating Equations) as part of a logistic
regression analysis.
• Adjusts the standard errors to account for potential
correlation due to clustered data – in this case due to
sibling groups.
Cumulative Probability of Reentry Curve - Children
Reunifying within 12 months
Probability of reentry within 24 months post-reunification
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.176 at 2 years
0.25
0.20
0.133 at 1 Year
0.15
0.10
0.05
Weeks
102
99
96
93
90
87
84
81
78
75
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
0.00
Cumulative Probability of Reentry Curve by LOS - Children
Reunifying within 12 months
Probability of reentry within 24 months post-reunification
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
Week
0-3 Months
3-6 Months
6-9 Months
9-12 Months
102
99
96
93
90
87
84
81
78
75
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
0.00
Cumulative Probability of Reentry Curve by Age Group Children Reunifying within 12 months
Probability of reentry within 24 months post-reunification
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
Age lt 1
Ages 1-2
Ages 3-5
Ages 6-10
Ages 11-13
Ages 14-15
102
99
96
93
90
87
84
81
78
75
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
0.00
Odds of Reentry - Ethnicity
Reentry
Reentry
within 12 mos. 12 to 24 mos.
White
1.00
1.00
Black
1.14
1.20
Hispanic
ns
ns
Asian
ns
ns
Native American
ns
ns
0.39
0.52
Other
Odds of Reentry – Length of time in Care
Reentry
Reentry
within 12 mos. 12 to 24 mos.
0 to 3 Months
1.00
1.00
3 to 6 Months
0.81
ns
6 to 9 Months
0.59
ns
9 to 12 Months
0.60
0.65
Odds of Reentry – Age at Entry
Reentry
Reentry
within 12 mos. 12 to 24 mos.
Less than 1 Year
1.00
1.00
1 to 2 Years
ns
0.88
3 to 5 Years
0.88
0.86
6 to 10 Years
0.89
ns
11 to 13 Years
ns
ns
14 to 15 Years
ns
0.72
Odds of Reentry – Other Factors
Reentry
Reentry
within 12 mos. 12 to 24 mos.
No Drug/Alc Serv.
1.00
1.00
Drug/Alc. Serv.
2.13
2.38
Entry Rate (CT)
1.04
1.05
Below Pov. (CT)
0.99
ns
Conclusions
• Differences exist in the children that reenter care between
0-12 months and 12-24 months.
• African American children are 1.14 times more likely to
reenter care within 12 months and 1.2 times more likely
to reenter care between 12 and 24 months compared to
white children.
• A longer stay in care initially is protective for reentries
within 12 months (The shorter the initial stay in care the
higher the likelihood of reentry). Only children in care
for 9 or more months have a significantly lower odds of
reentry for reentries between 12 and 24 months.
Conclusions (continued)
• Children between the ages of 3 and 10 have lower odds
of reentry within 12 months compared to infants. This is
somewhat different when looking at reentries between 12
and 24 months, ages 3-5 and ages 14 and 15 have lower
odds of reentry compared to infants.
• If drug/alcohol services are indicated then there is over
2X the odds of reentry within 12 months. These odds are
even higher 2.38 between 12 and 24 months.
• A 10% increase in the entry rate for the census tract that
the child was removed from is related to an increase in
the odds of reentry at both time periods.
The End!
Center for Social Services Research Web Page
http://cssr.berkeley.edu/CWSCMSReports
Terry V. Shaw – [email protected]
(510) 643 - 2585