NCJ Number
200696
Journal
Family Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 19-28
Date Published
February 2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the quality or characteristics of permanent placements in foster care at 6 years old for 254 children who had been removed from their homes prior to attaining 3.5 years old.
Abstract
Data were obtained from a county in the Southwest that is participating in LONGSCAN, a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of the long-term impact of child maltreatment and its relationship to domestic violence. The sample was drawn from a larger short-term longitudinal (18-month) study that enrolled children and adolescents from birth to 16 years old who had been placed in out-of-home care. The objectives of this study were to obtain information about the problem behaviors of the children and youth, potential protective factors, and the use of mental health services. Participants in the study were drawn from participants in LONGSCAN who had completed an age-6 interview (n=297). Only 1 child per placement was selected for the analysis, resulting in a final sample of 254 placements, with 93 reunified, 78 adopted, 40 in relative foster care, and 43 in nonrelative foster care. Measures were used to describe the general placement characteristics and specific exposure to family violence for the 254 children. Measures included child and caregiver reports of witnessed psychological and physical violence, as well as caregiver reports of psychological and physical aggression used to discipline their children. Findings indicate that both reunified children and their parents reported more family violence (witnessed and child victimization) than did nonreunified children and their caregivers. Adoptive parents did report that they used more minor violence in disciplining their children than did foster caregivers, but their children reported witnessing significantly less physical violence in the home. Recognizing that the development of children removed from their homes because of maltreatment is likely a function of both the maltreatment as well as the quality of subsequent family experiences (i.e., violence exposure), this paper discusses the implications of the study findings for determining placements. Given the risk for exposure to violence of children reunified with parents, this paper recommends increased efforts to provide support services to families who have their children returned to them. 4 tables and 30 references