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Factors associated with caregiver stability in permanent placements: a classification tree approach
Laura J Proctor1, Katherine Van Dusen Randazzo, Alan J Litrownik
1Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92183, USA.
Child Abuse & Neglect
|June 8, 2011
Summary
Caregiver instability affects 14% of children in permanent placements. Factors beyond adoption, like father involvement and child functioning, predict stability for children in foster care.
Area of Science:
- Child Welfare Research
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Children entering foster care due to maltreatment face risks to caregiver stability in permanent placements.
- Understanding predictors of stability is crucial for improving outcomes for these children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify individual and environmental variables associated with caregiver stability and instability.
- To examine these factors across diverse permanent placement types: reunification, adoption, and long-term foster care/guardianship.
- To focus on children under age 4 in out-of-home care for at least 5 months due to substantiated maltreatment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 285 children in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN).
- Defined caregiver instability as a change in primary caregiver between ages 6 and 8 years.
- Employed Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis to identify predictors from child and caregiver reports at age 6, covering neighborhood, caregiving, caregiver, and child characteristics.
Main Results:
- 14% of children experienced caregiver instability between ages 6 and 8.
- Adoptive placement was the strongest predictor of stability.
- For non-adopted children, contextual factors (father involvement, family expressiveness) and child characteristics (intellectual functioning, externalizing behaviors) predicted stability.
Conclusions:
- Placement type is important, but other factors like father involvement, family functioning, and child functioning also predict caregiver stability.
- While adoption offers stability, other permanent placement types can be stable with adequate support.
- Providing resources and support to biological parents and caregivers can increase the likelihood of stable placements.
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