Foster Care Reentry

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Foster Care Reentry Going Beyond 12 Months of
Follow-up Terry V. Shaw, MSW, PhD Daniel
Webster, MSW, 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 at
the 46th Annual National Association for Welfare
Research and Statistics (NAWRS) Workshop. August
23, 2006
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For an Electronic Copy of Presentation

• http//cssr.berkeley.edu/CWSCMSreports/presentatio
  ns/

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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.
• Reason for removal 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.

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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?

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Full Model Used for Analysis included
Ethnicity, Gender, Entry Year, Age at
Entry, Length of time in Care, Reason for
removal, County Size, Presence of siblings,
AFDC eligible, Predominant placement type,
Childs Health/Behavior conditions, Whether the
parents have a referral to a drug/alcohol
treatment program, Whether the child was
removed from a single or multi-parent household,
Primary language spoken at home.
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Frequencies Reunifications and Reentries
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Frequencies Reunifications and Reentries
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Cumulative Probability of Reentry
(1-Survival) Children Reunifying within 12 months
16.65
12.28
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Cumulative Probability of Reentry (1-Survival) by
LOS Children Reunifying within 12
months Probability of reentry within 24 months
post-reunification
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Cumulative Probability of Reentry (1-Survival) by
Ethnicity Children Reunifying within 12
months Probability of reentry within 24 months
post-reunification
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Cumulative Probability of Reentry (1-Survival) by
Age Group Children Reunifying within 12
months Probability of reentry within 24 months
post-reunification
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Odds of Reentry - Ethnicity
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Odds of Reentry Length of time in Care
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Odds of Reentry Age at Entry
Significant at the 0.1 level
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Odds of Reentry Other Factors
Reentry within 12 mos.
Reentry 12 to 24 mos.
1.52
Significant at the 0.1 level
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Conclusions

• Before finalizing models, we will explore issue
  of potential bias introduced by stages of
  incidental selectivity (Berk Ray, 1982).
• Some differences exist in the children that
  reenter care between 0-12 months and 12-24
  months.
• African American children are 1.23 times more
  likely to reenter care within 12 months and 1.32
  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.

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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, only ages
  3-5 have lower odds of reentry compared to
  infants.
• If drug/alcohol services are indicated then there
  is almost 2X the odds of reentry within 12
  months. These odds are even higher 2.55 between
  12 and 24 months.
• Children with existing health/behavioral/mental
  health issues have higher odds of reentering
  foster care in both periods, but the odds are
  greater in the 12 to 24 month group.

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The End!
Center for Social Services Research Web
Page http//cssr.berkeley.edu/CWSCMSReports
Terry V. Shaw tvshaw_at_berkeley.edu (510) 643 -
2585 Daniel Webster dwebster_at_berkeley.edu