Re: DRG's and Child Welfare

["Cynthia Blanchard" <cblanche@xxxxxxxx>]

Briefly, my study examined the relationship between the services provided to
families of children in foster care and family reunification.  It was a
retrospective longitudinal study of a cohort of 100 children who entered foster care
through a public child welfare agency in 1994.  Poverty, ethnicity, length of time
in care, reason for the child's removal from the home, and the emotional and
physical health of the child have previously been shown to be related to family
reunification and were included in the study.  The data were gathered through case
record reviews and analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression.

Services included in the study were those offered directly by the child welfare
agency (case plans, visitation plans, visitation, caseworker-parent contacts, and
material services).  Also included were services provided by other agencies--both
public and private.  None of the services offered directly by the child welfare
agencies were statistically significant in their relationship to family
reunification.  In-patient drug treatment, parenting skills training, and child
psychotherapy had positive statistical significance in their relationship to family
reunification.  There was a negative correlation between substance abuse evaluations
and family reunification.  The most frequently offered service to parents was
psychotherapy which was not statistically significant in its relationship to family
reunification.  As other studies have found, the sample in this study was poor and
people of color.

Among the important findings was the fact that over 40% of the children placed were
five years old or younger.  Over 35% of the children left foster care within the
first month of placement and over 60%  left withing the  first six months of
placement.  In sum, this study again showed that the services provided by a child
welfare agency cannot touch the larger problems of society which are having a
greater impact on foster care and reunification than are services.

Cynthia Blanchard

rlott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Ms. Blanchard,
>
>      I am interested in your dissertation.  I would like to know more about the
> types of rehabilitation programs you studied, how you studied them (and how you
> got your study participants), how you measured progress and closure, and how you
> did your statistical analysis.  We are interested in the things that work for
> rehabilitation and any good research is very welcome.  I would assume at least
> some of the other members of the list would also be interested in some more
> information about your work.
>
>                     Roger Lott,
>                     Center on Children, Families, and the Law
>                     University of Nebraska-Lincoln
>
> Cynthia Blanchard <cblanche@xxxxxxxx> on 05/14/99 07:51:03 AM
>
> Please respond to CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  To:      Child Maltreatment Researchers
>           <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>  cc:      (bcc: Roger C Lott/CCFL/UNL/UNEBR)
>
>
>
>  Subject: Re: DRG's and Child Welfare
>
>
> You stated that placing children in foster care is a last resort.  However,
> this is not how the funding works.  States are partially reimbursed for each
> child in foster care--no maater how many are placed while services are capped.
> AFSA also reimburses states for each child adopted.  Thus, we say that we want
> to prevent placements and to facilitate family reunification when children are
> placed, but our funding does the opposite.
>
> I am completing my dissertation on services to families of children in foster
> care and the relationship to family reunification.  I have found that almost no
> services had any statistical significance with family reunification.  I also
> found what many others have found--that the majority of children placed come
> from families who are poor and minorities.  We need more services which are
> effective, particularly in the area of substance abuse, both to prevent
> placement and for reunification.  However, the child welfare system cannot
> address the larger issues which lead to poor and minority children being
> placed.
>
> I do agree that children need a permanent plan and absolutely should not
> languish in foster care.  However, I do not see AFSA, with its emphasis on
> adoption, as the only solution.  We need to do more to prevent placements and
> to reunify families when children are placed.
>
> Cynthia Blanchard
> cblanche@xxxxxxxx