Browsing by Subject "Foster care"

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

A centimeter tall : a perilous journey of growing up and aging out of Texas foster care
(2011-05) Wolf, Lauren Elizabeth; Dahlby, Tracy; Gwynne, S. C.
Ashley Gallardo was raised in an abusive home from which she was removed and put into the Texas foster care system. There, she grew up and aged out at 18 having experienced six years of moving from foster home to foster home, being separated from her brothers and living a life that showed her little consistency or love. Ashley experienced major issues with the Texas foster care system that the Department of Family and Protective Services has long been working to address. Gaining access to her Child Protective Service case file gave her a peak into her past as she now actively advocates for a better foster care system. Her story is a journey that shows the inadequacies in Texas foster care and the efforts being made by DFPS to improve the system whilst the state faces a class action lawsuit filed against the child welfare system.
Change in foster care : the impact of relationships and environments on foster child functioning
(2010-05) Stepura, Kelly Jane; Schwab, A. James; Davis, King; Hodges, Kay; Pomeroy, Elizabeth; McRoy, Ruth; Pomeroy, Elizabeth; Baumann, Donald J.
The child welfare system has a responsibility to provide healthy environments for children who are removed from the care of their biological families. An important indicator of success in this endeavor is variations in child functioning following admission into foster care. Maltreated children are already at risk for difficulty adjusting to new environments and creating new relationships. This dissertation sought to explore the effect of change during foster care on child functioning. The effects of various types of change on children who were provided with treatment foster care services were evaluated using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS®) as a measure of child functioning. Results indicated that placement change and foster sibling presence negatively impacted child functioning, but that caseworker contact, foster sibling removal, and caseworker change positively impacted child functioning. Policy and practice implications emphasize the positive impact of single-child foster care placements, reduced volatility within foster child environments and relationships, and increased caseworker contacts. Future research should examine factors that mediate the relationship between systemic volatility within the foster care system and child functioning.
Far from home
(2012-05) Adkison, Abbey Elizabeth; Tu, Duy Linh; DeCesare, Donna
This is a story of the failing Texas foster care system, told by the people who work in it and more importantly, the children affected by it. Foster parents Jim and Kay Mayo and their foster children Brian and Heaven shared their troubled pasts and hopes for the future so more people could understand the problems facing them. There is no easy answer but hopefully some planned changes in policy will shape a better system. To delve deeper into the Mayo’s family dynamic and hear Brian tell his story in person, I invite you to see my video about Brian, Misael and Heaven here: “Far From Home” http://vimeo.com/41420290. The password is: foster care.
From foster care to baccalaureate and beyond : educational experiences of successful foster care alumni
(2012-05) Greer, Samuel Jennings; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; Ovando, Martha; Olivarez, Ruben; Schwab, Jim; Rehnborg, Sarah J.
Children in America’s foster care system represent one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations of students. The life outcomes of these children can be tragic, with disproportionate numbers experiencing prison, homelessness, non-marital parenthood, and other poor life outcomes. Many of these children have suffered trauma before and after they were placed in care, and many have special medical, emotional, and social needs. Of all the difficulties that foster children experience, however, low academic achievement may have the most detrimental consequences for their futures. The purpose of this study is to explore the commonalities of the 2-3% of former foster children who graduate from college despite the odds against them. By delving into the experiences of this population, this study hopes to contribute to the research by improving our understanding of academically successful foster care alumni, particularly by studying the social and educational support systems that abetted the success. Because a majority of foster care alumni remain on some form of public assistance throughout the course of their lives, any reduction of that number would be a step in the right direction. By studying the tiny minority that successfully graduates from college, we can gain insight into how this group managed to overcome the barriers that prevented the other 97% of this group from graduating from college. The findings could have implications ranging from K-12 educational support systems in and out of schools, higher education policy decisions, and foster care program design.
It’s the law? : a study of policy, minority stress, and gay men’s barriers to parenthood in the United States
(2023-08-13) Arriaga, Andrew Steven; Parent, Mike C.; Cokley, Kevin O; Umberson, Debra J; Whittaker, Tiffany A
Minority stress theory posits that sexual minority people are regularly subjected to elevated levels of stress that ultimately contribute to health disparities within this population. Recent research has indicated that the minority stress framework may further be useful in understanding how sexual minority people’s personal experiences with and perceptions of systemic, local, and government policies uniquely contribute to minority stress processes. Indeed, state-level legislation and child welfare policies have particularly posed challenges for gay men seeking to form families, especially through such means as adoption. Further work is thus necessary to identify ways in which such policy-related barriers to parenthood impact the wellness of this population, notably through involuntary childlessness. Informed by research on gay men’s parenting practices, adoption and foster care policy, and sexual minority stressors, the following study explores the role of policy in the minority stress framework and its impacts on gay men’s family planning decisions. Using minority stress theory as a guide for the present study model, I evaluate how proximal stress (fear associated with government intervention in gay men’s legal parenting status) and distal stress (perception of whether discriminatory state policies targeting gay parents exist) influence the relation between parenting desire and parenting intention. Results from a moderated multiple linear regression show that parenting desire significantly predicts parenting intention at the 5% significance level, proximal stress predicts parenting intention at the 10% significance level, and race and age significantly adjust the relationship between parenting desire and intention among the present sample of gay men. The present study has notable implications for further clinical work and research with gay men and other sexual minority communities with respect to family planning, navigation of potentially discriminatory public policies, advocacy efforts, and education.
Long-term outcomes of child protection mediation on permanency for children in foster care
(2010-08) Madden, Elissa Eichel; Schwab, A. James; McRoy, Ruth G.; Baumann, Donald; Busch-Armendariz, Noel; Travis, Dnika; Bryant, Cynthia
During the past two decades, court and child welfare agency officials have begun to view the use of mediation in child protection cases as a logical and cost-effective approach to finding safe and mutually agreeable solutions to cases in a timely manner so that permanency can be established more quickly for children. While those who support the use of child protection mediation generally believe that the mediation process has a positive influence on permanency outcomes; few studies have attempted to examine the accuracy of these claims. Utilizing participant survey data from an evaluation of a pilot child protection mediation program implemented in 43 Texas counties, as well as case-level administrative data from Child Protective Services (CPS), the present study sought to address gaps in the existing literature by more closely examining the association between child protection mediation and permanency outcomes for children in foster care. In addition, this study examined the impact of parental engagement with the mediation process on permanency outcomes. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to match 315 mediated cases with 315 non-mediated cases that were resolved through the traditional adversarial process (N=630). Descriptive bivariate analysis indicated that mediated cases varied significantly from non-mediated cases on several of the observed characteristics. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicate that neither participation in mediation nor parental engagement in the mediation process had a discernable effect on whether permanency was achieved or on children’s final placement outcomes. Interestingly, the use of mediation, as well as higher levels of parental engagement were both found to be associated with increased time to permanency. While the findings were somewhat counterintuitive, the results of this study suggest that the phenomena of permanency may be better explained not by one or two specific factors, but rather a combination of child, family, agency, court, and community factors that work together, and in some instances against each other, to influence the final permanency outcome. The findings of this study underscore the difficulty in measuring the impact of a single intervention on outcomes likely affected by a multitude of competing factors.
Maesha Meto Interview
(2022-02-22) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Maesha Meto, a public affairs grad student and activist in Austin, TX. Maesha talks about her childhood experiences as a young immigrant, such as learning English and feeling alienated from her peers. She shares stories of the Islamophobia she and her family experienced while she was growing up. She also talks about her political awakening and her activist involvement, including police reform work in New York City.
Parental substance use and foster care entrance : trends, geographic variation, and predictors of reunification
(2021-05-06) Stritzel, Haley; Crosnoe, Robert; Cavanagh, Shannon; Brayne, Sarah; Kirk, David; Raley, Kelly
Parental substance use is a major risk factor for a child’s entrance into foster care and, in the context of the opioid epidemic, has contributed to an increasing proportion of foster care entrances. However, parental substance use exists on a spectrum of severity and risk to a child’s safety and well-being. Whether or not a child with substance-using parent(s) is removed to foster care and returns to their parents’ home following foster care depends on the extent to which professionals, caseworkers, judges, and other authorities perceive parental substance use as maltreatment and whether it can be reconciled with a child’s safety and wellbeing. Decision-making in the child welfare system largely depends on the personal judgments of caseworkers, judges, and other child welfare workers, which are in turn influenced by external factors varying over time and place. Regarding time, the primary narrative regarding substance abuse has shifted dramatically from one emphasizing criminality and the need for punishment during the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic to one emphasizing public health and the need for treatment during the current opioid crisis. How this new narrative is reflected in child welfare decision-making, however, has not been adequately explored. Regarding place, the policies, availability of services, and more general sociodemographic and health environment of counties and states are known factors in child welfare decision-making, but have yet to be applied specifically to cases involving parental substance use. This dissertation links data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System with various county- and state-level data sources to address these gaps in the literature. The first study shows how sociodemographic variation in substance use-associated foster care entry rates over time reveal changes in where and for whom the child welfare system allocates resources. The second study demonstrates how county-level policy, health, and sociodemographic characteristics explain geographic variation in these rates. In the third study, I show how Medicaid expansion and program generosity interact in nuanced ways to predict reunification among children removed from the home due to parental substance use. All three studies illustrate the ongoing connections between the opioid epidemic and child welfare.
Pregnancy and sexual health behaviors among youth in the child welfare system
(2010-12) Faulkner, Monica R.; Schwab, A. James; Lewis, Carol; Padilla, Yolanda; Pituch, Keenan; Rew, Lynn; Thompson, Sanna
Teenage girls in foster care are estimated to have pregnancy rates that are roughly 20% higher than the national average. However, most research on the sexual health of foster youth has used small, non-representative samples of foster youth. This study examined both sexual activity and pregnancy among maltreated youth referred to child welfare systems using data from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-being, the first nationally representative sample of youth who come into contact with the child welfare system. Three separate analyses were conducted to answer the overall question, ‘how does foster care impact sexual activity and pregnancy for maltreated youth?’ Descriptive statistics, multinomial regression and hierarchal generalized linear modeling were used to address separate research aims to understand foster care’s impact on sexual activity and pregnancy. Results suggest that there are few differences between maltreated youth who enter foster care and those who do not enter foster care. Additionally, foster care does not appear to impact rates of sexual activity or pregnancy for maltreated youth. Rather, problems in the family of origin and maltreatment the child had experienced appear to influence both sexual activity and pregnancy.
Prevalence of mental health issue and their contributing factors within the foster care system
(2018-01-24) Lynn, Natalya Nerease; Ainslie, Ricardo C.
This work explores the correlation between the occurrence of mental illness in those individuals who have been through the foster care system as well as some potential causes for the discrepancy between the rate of mental illness in children within the general population versus children in the foster system. Research has found that mental health issues have been linked to individuals who have been through the system occurring at nearly twice the rate of the general population. Substance abuse, depression, PTSD, and attachment issues have all been common mental health problems among this demographic. This paper includes a qualitative study where foster care community workers, foster parents, and former foster children shared their stories. A total of 16 participants were interviewed and 6 narratives were used within the context of this study. The data was evaluated using the phenomenological method to gain access to meaning and themes that emerged from all participants. There were seven main themes that emerged including the foster care system as a “obstacle”, employee perception, peer support, chaos of foster home life, the importance of stability, generational trauma/healing, and training of staff and parents. The mental health of foster children seems to rely of the success or failure of these themes within the system. Further research needs to be conducted to access what steps can be taken to assuage the impact of mental illness on this population.
Racial disproportionality in the Idaho foster care system : a focus on Latinos and Native Americans
(2011-08) Lancaster, Lawanna Kay; Fong, Rowena
The purpose of this study was to identify micro, mezzo, and macro level factors which may be contributing to disparities in the removal decision among Latino and Native Americans in the Idaho child welfare system. Additionally, this study explored what factors contribute to the decision to investigate a referral or substantiate a claim of child abuse or neglect. This study used a secondary data analysis of all families (n = 4547) referred for abuse or neglect to the Idaho public child welfare system between April 1 and September 30, 2009. It was found that children were more likely to be removed if they had previously been a victim of abuse or neglect. Native American children were 4.39 times more likely to be removed than White children and Latino children were 1.78 times more likely to be removed than White children. Additional positive predictors of removal were domestic violence, being on public assistance, being referred for "other" maltreatment type rather than neglect, and the county poverty rate. The only negative predictor of placement was being referred for physical abuse rather than neglect. The R2 for these variables was 17.09%. Additional significant results indicated that county variables, such as the presence of a field office in a given county and level of rurality, were factors in the investigation decision. Referrals for physical abuse were also more likely to result in an investigation than referrals for neglect. The child's age and a referral for "other" maltreatment type were negatively related to the disposition of a case. Finally, an assessment was conducted of disparity at various decision points in the child welfare process. It was determined that Native Americans, Latinos, and Blacks/African Americans all experience disparity at some point in the early decision-making process of a child welfare case. For Black/African American children, the greatest disparity occurs at the referral to child welfare. For Latino children, the greatest disparity occurs at the removal decision. Native American children also have the greatest disparity at the removal decision, although they experience disparity at nearly every explored point in the child welfare process.
Risk and protective factors associated with successful independent living outcomes in a national sample of youth aging out of foster care
(2021-07-23) Liu, Chun, Ph. D.; Franklin, Cynthia; Streeter, Calvin L.; Faulkner, Monica; von Sternberg, Kirk
The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a crucial period in a young person’s life. Youth aging out of foster care normally face multiple disadvantages in terms of educational attainment, employment outcomes, housing, financial stability, and life skills compared with their peers in the general population. To overcome these challenges, the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) was established; it assists youth in making the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency by providing funding to states. This study aims to examine the risk and protective factors contributing to independent living outcomes using a national sample of youth aging out of the foster care system. By merging the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) datasets, this study provides an overview of independent living outcomes of youth aging out of foster care. By utilizing a growth curve modeling method, this study suggests there is a high prevalence of negative outcomes among this population as they transition from adolescence to adulthood. It shows that several risk factors are associated with key domains of independent living outcomes, including placement stability, current placement setting, and previous adverse experience. Having a connection between 17 and 21 with an adult and remaining in foster care after 18 are both substantial protective factors of successful life outcomes. The findings of this study also have implications for policy and practice. Policymakers and practitioners should work together to develop evidence-based, trauma-informed interventions that better help this vulnerable population, with an emphasis on achieving relational permanency. Future Independent Living Programs should be tailored to meet the specific needs of youth in foster care, and child welfare workers should be aware of the risks and protective factors that impact youth development.
Solitary girls : longing among wards of the state
(2011-05) Del Sol, Marina; Lein, Laura; Strong, Pauline Turner, 1953-; Menchaca, Martha; Stewart, Kathleen C.; Franklin, Maria
I am researching the experience of foster care drift. This term refers to children who are considered homeless because it is not clear where they are going next. Research shows that the majority of children who have experienced foster care drift lead unstable lives after reaching the age of eighteen. They have high levels of poverty, homelessness, and incarceration, lack the most basic literacy and life skills, do not sustain employment, and lack health care and mental health care. The research is centered in a residential treatment center for girls. I conducted ethnographic research while working with about two dozen girls, aged seven to seventeen, on service-learning projects. The girls designed projects in which they developed a sense of helping someone else. Frequently these projects involved the making and exchange of material objects. Unfortunately, the institutional structure isn’t set up to provide such activities on a regular basis. My analysis focuses on how the girls use objects to gain social status and form bonds with others. I seek to understand the nature of their sense of ownership and belonging in a group, which differ markedly from those valued outside the system. The skills the girls are practicing in the residential treatment center will serve them well in total institutions such as prisons and mental hospitals, but they will have a hard time succeeding in a job or educational setting.
Texas Child Welfare System needs to protects its workers
(2013-05) Yoo, Jean Jihyei; Coleman, Renita
Texas Child Protective Services has been struggling with keeping its workers. The turnover rate, which measures the frequency of workers quitting and entering the agency, has been extremely high since the 1980s. In 2012, CPS reported that about one-fourth of its skilled workers are leaving the agency. This puts extra burden on the remaining workers, eventually leading them to resign as well. To fix the turnover issue, the state of Texas initiated a major reform in CPS in 2006. Although the reform succeeded in improving the quality of work environment and other areas, it failed to bring down the turnover rate. To identify why the statewide reform had failed, former caseworkers share their experiences with the agency to reveal what causes the high turnover, the detrimental effects it has on children, and what should be done to reduce the rates.
Understanding emerging adulthood from the perspective of those transitioning from foster care and those experiencing homelessness : the role of policy in supporting competency during the transition to adulthood
(2012-08) Gomez, Rebecca Jean; Schwab, A. James
The unsatisfactory achievement of adult competency among emerging adults aging out of foster care is well documented. However few studies have examined how development within the child welfare system impacts the ability to achieve competence. In this study, homeless emerging adults who had not aged out of foster care were compared to peers who were homeless and aged out of foster care. The child welfare system is a unique environment with its own policies. In order to better understand the process of development within the child welfare system, the current study used life course developmental theory to understand how the child welfare system affects the development of children and their ability to achieve competencies. Specifically, the role of learned helplessness in influencing the developmental trajectory of children aging out of foster care was examined. The data were collected utilizing participatory action research methods and the use of this methodology among homeless emerging adults is explored. The current study analyzes data collected by the Texas Network of Youth Services. The study examined issues surrounding the transition to adulthood among homeless emerging adults using a participatory action research methodology. The sample included emerging adults 18 to 25 years old who were homeless (n=134). A subset of the sample aged out of foster care. The results indicated that, 1) homeless emerging adults who have not aged out of foster care may be an appropriate comparison group for those who have aged out, 2) homeless emerging adults who aged out of foster care were more likely to have a perception of learned helplessness that may impede their ability to achieve adult competency when compared to those who did not age out of foster care, and 3) despite receiving services to prepare them for adulthood, homeless emerging adults who aged out of foster care had just as much difficulty achieving adult competency as their homeless peers who did not receive these services. Finally, results showed that the use of participatory action research among homeless emerging adults may be a promising approach for future research. Participants expressed feeling empowered and having perceptions that indicated self-efficacy. This indicated that this type of methodology may be promising in altering perceptions of learned helplessness.