Foster care for sexually abused children: a comparative study

A group of 110 children placed in foster care as a result of sexual abuse was compared with a matched sample of children who entered foster care for other reasons. Descriptive findings showed that children in both groups had similar profiles in terms of behavioral problems and other attributes. However, results of a life-table analysis indicated that sexually abused children exit foster care for planned permanent living arrangements at a significantly faster rate than nonsexually abused children. Though foster care should remain a last-resort option in most cases, these results suggest that it can be concluded more quickly for sexually abused children than for victims of other types of maltreatment, given that adequate controls are also implemented to avoid revictimization.