Foster Parent Prior Experience With Child Behavior Problems and the Timing of Non-progress Moves for Children in Non-relative Foster Care Placements: A Survival Analysis Approach
Open Access
- Author:
- Swanson, Ann Shun
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- June 03, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Christian M. Connell, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Abenaa A. Jones, Committee Member
Douglas Teti, Program Head/Chair
Sarah A. Font, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- foster care
non-relative foster parents
non-progress move
child behavior problems
congregate care
placement stability
placement disruption
survival analysis - Abstract:
- Each year, nearly half of children in foster care are placed in non-relative foster families. Compared to children in kinship placements, children in non-relative foster care are more likely to have behavioral issues and more susceptible to experiencing multiple placements disruptions. This study sought to examine whether non-relative foster parents’ prior experience with child behavior problems or co-fostering help from an additional foster parent have a protective effect when multiple children are fostered concurrently or children have known behavior problems. Longitudinal administrative data and survival analysis were leveraged to test a series of two-way interactions between these specific risk and protective factors and examine their impact on the timing of non-progress moves. The sample comprised 1607 non-relative foster care placements beginning between January 2012 and December 2016, involving 661 non-relative foster parents and 960 children aged 6-17 years old. Contrary to expectations, results indicate that the presence of an additional foster parent does not interact with the number of children fostered concurrently nor the presence of child behavior problems to impact the timing of non-progress moves. Nevertheless, a key finding from this study suggests that non-relative foster parents' prior experience with child behavior problems has a protective effect and increases placement duration before a non-progress moves occurs for children who were previously removed for behavioral issues or placed in congregate care or a psychiatric hospital. Results from this study offer valuable insights with implications for both research and practice. Notably, enhanced efforts to support and incentives to retain experienced foster parents may increase placement stability for foster children, particularly for older children with behavioral issues.