Research Lead: David M. Rubin, M.D., M.S.C.E.
Study Team: Amanda O’Reilly, M.P.H., Meredith Matone, M.H.S., Christina Kang-Yi, Ph.D., Robin Mekonnen, M.S.W., Ph.D., Denise Actie, M.S.W.
Sponsored By: William Penn Foundation, Stoneleigh Center, and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dates: July 2006-June 2012
Background
Placement instability harms children in foster care. According to national estimates, two-thirds of children who are in foster care for more than a year experience three or more placements. Aside from the problems experienced before entering out-of-home care, placement instability increases the risk of negative health, educational, and social-emotional outcomes. Lack of understanding about what types of placement decisions best promote the resiliency of children in foster care is compounded by insufficient data on how often children achieve long-lasting placements and how well they do as a group.
Aims
• Better capture the relationship between placement stability and well-being through the rigorous collection of data on children in out-of-home care.
• Apply sophisticated models of longitudinal analysis examining school achievement and behavioral outcomes as children move through the foster care system.
Methods
Study Design: Longitudinal cohort study of children entering an out-of-home foster care placement. Children were followed during a 24-month period, and their demographic information, behavioral health, and school outcomes were evaluated through interviews with caregivers, caseworkers, and teachers. Interviews with caregivers and caseworkers were completed upon entry into care and every time a child changed placement, or every six months if no placement change occurred. Each child's teacher was also interviewed at the end of the 24-months.
Population: 405 children ages three to eight years who entered the Philadelphia child welfare system from 2006 to 2008.
Progress
Data collection was completed on June 2010. A total of 1,565 caseworker interviews, 1,469 caregiver interviews, and 89% of teacher interviews were completed for the study cohort of 405 children.
Preliminary analysis at year one is completed, and data is being prepared for longitudinal data analysis which will be completed by early summer 2011.
Policy Focus
• Identify important system-level interventions that promote placement stability.
• Identify barriers hindering access to behavioral health resources for children in foster and kinship care to reduce placement disruptions.
• Define uniform placement stability measures that can be applied at a national level.
Dissemination
Children’s Stability & Well-Being Study Newsletter. May 2010.
Noonan K, Rubin D, Mekonnen R, Zlotnik S, O’Reilly A. Securing Child Safety, Well-being, and Permanency Through Placement Stability in Foster Care. PolicyLab Fall 2009 Evidence to Action Brief.
Children’s Stability & Well-Being Study Newsletter. June 2008.
Related Resources
Rubin D, Noonan K. What do Romanian children living in orphanages manifesting repetitive
behaviors and American children in foster care with abnormal cortisol levels have in common?: More than you would think. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.2010;164:492-3.
Rubin DM, Downes KJ, O'Reilly A, Mekonnen R, Luan X, Localio AR. The impact of kinship
care on behavioral well-being for children in out-of-home care. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 2008;162(6):550-6.
Rubin DM, O'Reilly A, Luan X, Localio AR. The impact of placement stability on behavioral
problems for children in foster care. Pediatrics. 2007;119(2):336-44.
Rubin, DM, Alessandrini EA, Feudtner C, Mandell DS, Localio AR, Hadley TR. Mental health
costs and placement stability for children in foster care. Pediatrics. 2004;113(5):1336-41
