Reexamining risk factors in foster care

• Published in: Children and youth services review 1993, Vol.15 (2), p.143-154
• Main Author: Slaght, Evelyn F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Children; Factors; Foster care; Medical sciences; Outcomes; Parents; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Sociocultural environment; Substance abuse
• ISSN: 0190-7409; 1873-7765
• DOI: 10.1016/0190-7409(93)90041-7

After a decade of declining foster care caseloads, the number of children in placement is again on the rise. Substance abuse seems to be the reason for the increase; however, there is limited documentation of the relationship of substance abuse to placement outcome. In an attempt to reexamine risk factors in foster care placement, a study was undertaken in Baltimore, Maryland, using a sample of 129 foster care cases, which were tracked over a two year period. It was hypothesized that cases where parental substance abuse was the primary reason for placement, a child would remain in care longer and recidivate with greater frequency. No significant differences were found in the outcomes of cases where substance abuse was the primary reason for entry as compared to those where mental health was the primary risk factor. This finding, along with the absence of adequate information in the case records to substantiate other risk factors (e.g., inadequate income) raises questions about whether identified risk factors are driving the decision-making that impacts on a child's foster care experience and the services they receive.