Nearly 800,000 children spend time in foster care each year, with many children experiencing lengthy stays and exiting without a permanent family. The main objective of this study was to identify which child and placement characteristics were significant predictors of foster care exit to three types of permanency: reunification, guardianship, and adoption. A nonexperimental longitudinal design was used to observe an annual entry cohort of 3,351 children who entered Kansas foster care in state fiscal year 2006. The sample was observed for 30 to 42 months. Data sources were two state administrative databases, one which tracks all children in foster care and one on mental health services. The primary data analysis was competing risks survival analysis. Study findings showed that children in foster care exit to different types of permanency at different rates. Reunification occurs the most quickly, followed by guardianship, and then adoption. While patterns of predictors varied by type of permanency, three major categories of important permanency predictors were identified: 1) demographic characteristics of age at entry and race, 2) clinical needs related to child disabilities and mental health problems, and 3) continuity and connections represented by kin placements, sibling placements, early stability, and absence of runaway events. Implications suggested that social work practice be age-differentiated and culturally appropriate, and that children's needs related to disabilities and mental health problems be addressed with thorough assessment and evidencebased services. Social work practices should also strive to keep children connected to family and in stable placements. The major social work theory implication suggested that permanency theory balance the primordial solidarities principle that stresses family connections with the bureaucratic institutions principle that emphasizes structures for ensuring stability. In addition, ii this study's findings indicated the need to improve and expand timely permanency for more children. Policy implications included: using guardianship as a viable permanency option for more children; revising federal policy to promote the discovery and implementation of new, creative approaches to permanency; and, reforming the current financing structure to be more flexible and better aligned with the promotion of permanency outcomes.iii

Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) intervention on substance abuse and trauma-related problems. Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of SFBT in primary substance use treatment services for child welfare involved parents in outpatient treatment for substance use disorders. Mixed linear models were used to test within-and between-group changes using intent-to-treat analysis (N ¼ 64). Hedges's g effect sizes were also calculated to examine magnitude of treatment effects. Results: Both groups decreased on the Addiction Severity Index-Self-Report and the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40. The between group effect sizes were not statistically significant on either measures, thus SFBT produced similar results as the research supported treatments the control group received. Conclusion: Results support the use of SFBT in treating substance use and trauma and provide an alternative approach that is more strengths based and less problem focused.

This study examined acute inpatient psychiatric admissions among child Medicaid recipients with a mental health diagnosis in one Midwestern state. The authors used multivariable logistic regression to determine the demographic, clinical, and service factors associated with admissions among 51,233 Medicaid enrolled children 3-17 years old who were identified as having a mental health diagnosis. Compared to available data from other states, the overall acute admission rate was low (2.5 %). Clinical factors were the strongest predictors of hospitalization. Youths with mood, disruptive and psychotic disorder diagnoses were 14.1, 6.2, and 5.8 times more likely than other mental health beneficiaries to experience one or more acute inpatient psychiatric admissions. Other predictors of acute admission included prior hospitalization, receipt of two or more concurrent psychotropic medications, older age, and urban residence. A low rate of acute inpatient admissions may indicate successful delivery of community-based mental health services; conversely, it may suggest underservice to youths with mental health need, particularly those in rural areas. Implications for publicly funded children's mental health care are discussed.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract