NCJ Number
241789
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2013 Pages: 47-60
Date Published
January 2013
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the clinical and organizational characteristics that influence Canadian officials' decision to place Aboriginal children in foster care at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation.
Abstract
Findings from this study on the clinical and organizational characteristics the can lead to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in Canada placed in foster care include the following: the Aboriginal status of the child contributed to the placement decision made by the investigator; when caregiver concerns were taken into account by the investigator, the likelihood of placement in foster care decreased; child welfare agencies that had more than 45 percent of their investigations involving Aboriginal children were more likely to place Aboriginal children in foster care; and the child's Aboriginal ethnicity was significantly related to the likelihood of placement in foster care. This study attempted to replicate the findings from an earlier study on the clinical and organizational characteristics that influence Canadian officials' decision to place Aboriginal children in foster care following the completion of a child maltreatment investigation. Data for the study were obtained from 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect dataset. This dataset contains information on almost 12,000 child maltreatment investigations conducted by Canadian child welfare agencies. The information covers the investigation from the time the initial report is filed to final case disposition. Multi-level statistical models were used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that both clinical and organizational factors play a role in the placement decision of child maltreatment investigations involving Aboriginal children. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed. Tables, figures, and references