The Decision Making Ecology of placing a child into foster care: A structural equation model

The Decision Making Ecology provided a framework for empirically testing the impact of Case, Caseworker and Organizational factors on the decision to place children in out-of-home care. The structural equation model we developed fit the data extremely well, indicating a complex relationship between the variables. The main findings indicate that Case factors, even as aggregated to the worker level, were of most importance: Percent Removed was increased in part by greater average Risk being assessed and more families on a worker's caseload being Low Income. Furthermore, removal rates were increased by lower proportions of Hispanic families on the caseload, as well as lower organizational support, and a perception of manageable workload and sufficient resources. Individual factors, i.e., variables characterizing the caseworkers themselves, were not found to directly influence the placement decision, including workers' own race/ethnicity, though various orders of mediated effects were indicated, and these are detailed. Interrelationships between variables that affect case, caseworker and organizational factors are discussed along with implications for practice.