NCJ Number
214271
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 409-424
Date Published
April 2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study used the Parent Daily Report Checklist (PDR) to predict placement disruption over a 12-month study period among children in foster care in California.
Abstract
The findings revealed that PDR scores were predictive of foster care placement disruption over a 12-month period. On average, foster care parents reported 5.77 child problems per day using the PDR checklist. The number of child problem behaviors that foster care parents tolerated per day without risk of placement disruption was 6 or fewer. Other results showed that the more children in the home, the greater the risk of placement disruption and that children in non-kin foster care were more likely to experience placement disruption than children in kinship placements. The findings suggest that the PDR is useful for predicting which placements are most at risk for future disruption, allowing for intervention opportunities. Participants were the foster or kinship parents of 246 children aged 5 to 12 years who were in foster care placement in San Diego County. Foster and kinship parents were administered the PDR via telephone interview, which directed participants to identify the number of problem behaviors exhibited by the child during the previous 24 hours. Other variables under examination included child’s age, gender, and ethnicity, foster parents’ ethnicity, number of other children in the home, and type of placement. Data analysis was carried out using Cox hazard regression models and multivariate analyses. Limitations of the study are noted, including its relatively short follow-up period. Tables, figures, references, appendix