RE: urgent help needed re: research

["Ann Deaton x6778" <ADeaton@xxxxxxxx>]

Deborah,

You may find these articles helpful:

 

1. Child Welfare 2002 Mar-Apr;81(2):203-24

Expedited permanency planning: evaluation of the Kentucky Adoptions Opportunities Project.

Martin MH, Barbee AP, Antle BF, Sar B.

Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, KY 40292, USA.

This article presents the evaluation findings of a Kentucky Adoptions Opportunities Project (KAOP), a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. The primary goal of the KAOP was implementation of three permanency planning activities: (1) risk assessment/concurrent planning, (2) one child/one legal voice, and (3) early placement in kinship or foster/adoptive homes. These activities were designed to expedite a permanency placement decision within 12 months for high-risk children. The evaluation of 124 high-risk children in the KAOP revealed that the majority of children had one or both parents coping with multiple risk factors, including mental illness, substance abuse, mental retardation, or family violence. The major barriers to permanency are discussed, as well as the policy and practice implications in the context of Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

 

2.

Child Welfare 2000 May-Jun;79(3):315-34

Related Articles, Links

The heterogeneity of children and their experiences in kinship care.

Leslie LK, Landsverk J, Horton MB, Ganger W, Newton RR.

Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.

Increasingly, children in need of out-of-home care are being placed in kinship care, yet few studies have followed their placement histories longitudinally to determine if these children constitute a homogeneous group or heterogeneous subgroups. This study of 484 children in kinship care in San Diego County, California, indicates that children in kinship care have markedly different sociodemographic and maltreatment histories, as well as heterogeneous placement experiences.

3.

Child Abuse Negl 2000 Oct;24(10):1363-74

Related Articles, Links

 
Children and youth in foster care: distangling the relationship between problem behaviors and number of placements.

Newton RR, Litrownik AJ, Landsverk JA.

Department of Sociology, California State University, Child and Adolescent Health Services Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to provide a prospective look at the relationship between change in placement and problem behaviors over a 12-month period among a cohort of foster children. METHOD: The sample contained 415 youth, and was part of a larger cohort of children who entered foster care in San Diego, California and remained in placement for at least 5 months. The Child Behavior Check List was used to assess behavior problems. Every change of placement during the first 18 months after entry into the foster care system was abstracted from case records. RESULTS: The results suggest that volatile placement histories contribute negatively to both internalizing and externalizing behavior of foster children, and that children who experience numerous changes in placement may be at particularly high risk for these deleterious effects. Initial externalizing behaviors proved to be the strongest predictor of placement changes for the entire sample and for a sub-sample of those who initially evidenced problem behaviors on at least one broad-band CBCL scale. Our findings also suggest that children who initially score within normal ranges on the CBCL may be particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of placement breakdowns. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these findings we argue for an analytical approach that views behavior problems as both a cause and as a consequence of placement disruption. Children who do not evidence behavior problems may in fact constitute a neglected population that responds to multiple disruptions of their primary relationships with increasingly self-defeating behaviors.

4.

Child Abuse Negl 1995 Sep;19(9):1051-64

Placement outcomes of 206 severely maltreated children in the Boston Juvenile Court system: a 7.5-year follow-up study.

Jellinek MS, Little M, Benedict K, Murphy JM, Pagano M, Poitrast F, Quinn D.

Child Psychiatry Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

This study examines placement outcomes of 206 severely maltreated children 7.5 years after arraignment in Boston Juvenile Court (BJC) on Care and Protection Petitions. Sixty-seven percent (n = 138) of the sample had been permanently removed from their parents and 33% (n = 68) had their cases dismissed in the BJC. At time of this follow-up, 21% of the full sample (n = 44) were still in temporary custody awaiting permanent placement. In addition, 4% (n = 8) of children had "drifted" back to their abusive/neglectful parents despite prior permanent removal. The average time children in this sample spent in probate proceedings (awaiting permanent placement) had increased substantially to 2.1 years since the last overview study of this sample 4 years ago. The rate of court referral for incidences of reabuse (a C&P filing), or delinquency was significantly lower among children who had been permanently placed (p < .003). Rates of court-referral for reabuse charges were the same (16%) for children who were in temporary custody at the time of follow-up and children who had been dismissed back to the parent for whom the original C&P had been filed. Results are discussed in light of the urgent need to restructure time limits in juvenile court proceedings, integrate adequate tracking of child abuse and neglect cases through and across court and agency boundaries, and the use standardized assessments of abused and neglected children as a tool in the adjudication process.

 

Ann V. Deaton, Ph.D.

Director, Program Development & Research

Children's Hospital, Richmond, VA

-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Phillips [mailto:dphillps@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2003 10:07 AM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: urgent help needed re: research

I am trying to find recent research on the relationship between adoption and foster care regarding such indicators as juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy, running away, and high school dropout.  

I am project coordinator of a program that provides support to grandparents who are primary caregivers of one or more grandchildren.  Most of our grandparents cannot afford to pay legal fees for custody changes and/or adoption.  We are applying to the Georgia Bar Association to increase our program's ability to pay legal expenses.  They have a favorable attitude toward our program but tell us that we need to cite research that substantiates adoption, relative caregiving over foster care.  How does adoption and relative caregiving benefit the state relative to foster care?

I just came across something on the National Adoption Clearinghouse website.  They describe a chapter by Richard Barth in a book by Rosemary Avery, Adoption Policy and Special Needs Children.  I need to go get this book but it looks like he cites very old research.  There are also several other papers cited by Barth and Berry.  I'm going to track these down as they look very promising, but thought I'd send this out to see if anyone could point me in other directions.

As you can predict we're under a serious deadline (grant has to be turned in by Monday, June 2), so if you can spare a moment to post something, I'd really appreciate it!!!!  Thanks.