Factors leading to foster care reentry: experiences of housing unstable families

Children from housing unstable families have a high risk of reentering the child welfare system. However, to our knowledge, no studies have specifically explored qualitative factors related to child welfare reentry among housing unstable families focusing on their and their service providers' p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public child welfare 2024-01, Vol.18 (1), p.104-123
Main Authors: Bai, Rong, Collins, Cyleste, Fischer, Robert, Crampton, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Child welfare
Domestic violence
Families & family life
Foster care
Foster care reentry
Foster children
Health services
Housing
housing instability
Mental health
Prejudice
Qualitative research
qualitative study
Substance abuse
Systems theory
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Children from housing unstable families have a high risk of reentering the child welfare system. However, to our knowledge, no studies have specifically explored qualitative factors related to child welfare reentry among housing unstable families focusing on their and their service providers' perspectives. This study was a qualitative follow-up on findings from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to promote safe and timely reunification among housing unstable families. We explored the perspectives of seven housing-unstable caregivers whose children had reentered the foster care system, and 12 service providers regarding factors associated with foster-care reentry. Applying Maslow's hierarchy of needs and ecological systems theory, our findings revealed that individual level (e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health) and system level (e.g., service provider prejudice and bias) factors were associated with foster care reentry. We offer suggestions for implications for research, policy, and practice.
ISSN:1554-8732
1554-8740
DOI:10.1080/15548732.2022.2158991