BOCYF Projects

Children in Out-of-Home Placement

In the last three decades, the number and characteristics of the children involved in out-of-home placement have changed dramatically, with increases in the number of caseloads, the length of stays, and the number of infants and African-American children in foster care. At the same time, the overall age of children in the child welfare system has declined, and there is a growing diversity in foster care settings and types of service interventions. Amid these changes, many states are experimenting with different forms of out-of-home care and service delivery arrangements, and the federal government is expanding its role in defraying the costs of supporting children in out-of-home placement.

Those who work in the field are increasingly looking to the research base for guidance about the developmental impacts and other long-term effects of different types of placement experiences and supportive services. But although new datasets are emerging that offer some potential to improve the knowledge base about the health and well-being of children in placement, research on children who experience or are at risk of out-of-home placement is often fragmented and narrow in scope.

To address these gaps, the Board on Children, Youth, and Families convened a workshop on the experiences of children in out-of-home care, with a focus on the health and developmental status of children and adolescents who experience or are at risk of placement. This workshop was held July 12, 1999. The workshop examined current and recent studies and datasets about the characteristics of children and families who experience or are at risk of out-of-home placement, the nature of the services they receive, and the types of child placement settings associated with child welfare services. This review focused on the quality of current indicators and measures as well as gaps in the knowledge base concerning the health and well-being of children and families involved with the child welfare system.

Workshop participants included researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in the fields of child health and development (including mental health), family functioning, child welfare, family law, economics, statistics, social services, poverty, public policy, and evaluation research. They worked to identify areas where research findings are particularly relevant to the basic assumptions that commonly guide service policies and placement practices for children and families. In this way, the workshop helped distinguish areas of research that can guide the development of incentive systems, child and family-based performance standards, and other assessment measures of the child welfare system. A workshop summary was published and disseminated to a wide range of federal and state policy makers, legislators, funders, and others.

The workshop was partially funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.

For more information, please contact the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, at 202-334-1935.