“Short-stayers” in child welfare: Exploring characteristics and experiences

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - Social Policy

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Despite decades of research about the experiences of children engaged in the child welfare system, relatively little research focuses on children known as “short-stayers.” Short-stayers refer to children removed from their homes and placed in out of home care for less than 30 days. Available research on this population suggests these children are more likely to be placed with non-relatives or in institutions before returning home to their caregivers. The necessity of these exceedingly short removals is questionable, especially in light of the traumatic impact on children. Therefore, this study explored the population of short-stayers in the US child welfare system by examining their demographic and risk factors, as well as placement and reunification trajectories and experiences.

Methods: Using Children’s Bureau administrative data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS), we analyzed data on 251,112 children from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico who exited foster care in fiscal year 2018. Children in the sample were categorized by length of stay in child welfare with “very short-stayers” being children in foster care for 7 days or less and “short-stayers” being children in care for 8-30 days. These two groups were compared to children who exited care after being in foster care for more than 30 days. A series of multinomial logistic regression models were tested to identify the association between specific characteristics and experiences of children in foster care with being a short-stayer or very short-stayer, using relative risk ratios.

Results: Approximately 3.85% of the sample were classified as short-stayers and 4.91% as very short-stayers. Demographic characteristics of the sample are reported in Table 1. Results from the full multinomial regression model can be found in Table 2. Key findings show that children ages 2–5-years-old are less likely to experience short- (RRR=0.85; p<.001) or very-short stays (RRR=0.92; p<.05) compared to children younger than 2-years-old. Non-Hispanic Black children were more likely to experience a short-stay (RRR=1.17; p<.001) and very-short stay (RRR=1.2; p<.001) compared to white children. In fact, all children of color were more likely to experience very-short stays compared to white children (see Table 2). Children with short stays were less likely to have experienced neglect (RRR=0.71; p<.001) compared to physical abuse, as were children with very-short stays (RRR=0.70; p<.001). Lastly, for both short and very-short stayers, removals were less likely to be court ordered (RRR=0.33; p<.001; RRR=0.76; p<.001) compared to voluntary removal.

Conclusion and Implications: The results of this study demonstrate that there are measurable differences between children with short and very-short stays in child welfare when compared to those in care for more than 30 days. These findings have implications for understanding the developmental impact of the trauma of these brief removals from caregivers, which disproportionately affect children of color and younger children. This exploratory study underscores the importance of drawing greater attention in research to the risk factors for short-stays, as well as examining the policies that contribute to the occurrence of these brief removals.

Authors

• Brett Greenfield, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Presenting Author

• Zoe Getz, Rutgers University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liwei Zhang, Washington University in St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cassandra A Simmel, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Non-Presenting Author