Marguerite Casey Foundation

Abstract The Family Intensive Treatment (FIT) team model provides intensive team-based, family-focused, comprehensive services to families in the child welfare system with parental substance misuse issues. The current evaluation study examined the effect of FIT on child safety, permanency, and parental wellbeing. A longitudinal quasi-experimental design with a two-group comparison using propensity score matching was used. Compared to a group of similar parents/caregivers receiving child welfare services (N = 2976), parents/caregivers who received FIT (N = 3025) were less likely to have new allegations of child maltreatment within 6 and 12 months after participating in the FIT program. There was no significant association between FIT receipt and recurrence of verified (i.e., substantiated) maltreatment: the rates of verified maltreatment were very similar for the parents/caregivers in the FIT group and the parents/caregivers in the comparison group. Similarly, no significant differences were found when the rates for foster care reentry were examined. In contrast, children of parents/caregivers who received FIT achieved permanency faster and at a greater rate compared to their counterparts. In addition, participation in the FIT program predicted improvement in parental/caregiver emotional protective capacity and overall protective capacity and showed a positive tendency in improvement of parental/caregiver behaviors related to their protective role. Finally, parents/caregivers who received FIT demonstrated significant improvements over time in several wellbeing domains including Daily Living Activities, Mental Health and Addiction, and Adult and Adolescent Parenting.

ABSTRACTThe Multisite Accelerated Permanency Project (MSAPP) implemented permanency roundtables (PRTs) to increase legal permanency rates for older youth in foster care. PRTs are structured meetings intended to expedite legal permanency (defined as adoption, guardianship, or reunification) for youth by involving experts from both inside and outside child welfare agencies in creative and concrete case planning. The target population of this study included older youth (median age = 17 years) who faced the most challenges in achieving legal permanency, most of whom had a case goal of another planned permanent living arrangement. In 2010, 726 youth participated in PRTs in 4 states through MSAPP. One year after the roundtables, 8.5% of the youth achieved legal permanency. Although the rate of achieving legal permanency was low, other benefits were realized through the process, including increased staff understanding of the importance of legal permanency and identification of strategies to address barriers to achieving legal permanency. Improving rates of achieving legal permanency for older youth in foster care in the future will require effective implementation and evaluation of innovative approaches, including thorough family finding; strategic use of concurrent planning, judicial reviews, and ancillary services; and greater alignment among practice, agencies, policy, and research.

This study examined spiritual coping mechanisms, beliefs about spirituality and participation in spiritual activities and in other positive activities among adolescents in foster care. A multidimensional measure of spirituality was developed for face-to-face interviews with 188 youth (ages 14-17) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds in the United States. Findings revealed 95% of youth believe in God, over 70% believe God is 'creator' and God is 'love', and 79% considered prayer a spiritual practice. Most youth said love and forgiveness help them heal. Two-thirds (67%) reported responding to 'bad or tragic things happening' by spending time alone, and over half responded by praying (59%) or sharing the problem with someone else (56%). Youth's top three spiritual goals were to follow God's plan for them, become a better person, and know their purpose in life. Based on the value youth ascribed to spiritual coping mechanisms, recommendations for policy and practice focus on the integration of spirituality into practice and caregiving for youth in foster care.

ABSTRACT A post-discharge outcomes interview for alumni of foster care was designed by four peer foster care agencies. Across all four agencies, 222 alumni were interviewed six months after being discharged from foster care services. Outcome domains, based on common measurement practices in child welfare and on social validation studies, include type of living environment (e.g., restrictiveness), placement stability, homelessness, school performance, employment, self-sufficiency, aggression, criminal behavior, substance use, relationships, community involvement, protection from harm, satisfaction, and impact of services. Results of the outcomes were compared to nationally sampled studies of children not in care. Generally, alumni reported positive outcomes across the various domains. The type of foster care, length of care, and age of alumni influenced the results. Implications for expanding this study to establish national benchmarks for outcomes, service use, and cost in foster care conclude the article.