Assessing Restrictiveness: A Closer Look at the Foster Care Placements and Perceptions of Youth With and Without Disabilities Aging Out of Care

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the experience of restrictiveness among transition-aged youth with disabilities in foster care. Utilizing a sample of 207 youth, placement types were explored for differences in disability status, race and sex. Further, youth perceptions of restriction around communication, movement around one’s home, and access to the community were examined for youth receiving special education services (SPED), youth receiving developmental disability services (DD), and youth without disabilities. Youth with disabilities were more likely to be placed in more restrictive placement types and had significantly higher levels of perceived restriction around communication, movement, and community when compared to youth without disabilities. Additionally, males with disabilities experienced higher levels of restrictiveness, particularly those who received DD services, while White youth with disabilities also experienced greater community restrictiveness.

Permanence for disabled children and young people through foster care and adoption: A selective review of international literature

“…Among young people with mental health problems in out-of-home care, those from Hispanic communities experienced greater placement disruption than others (Farmer et al, 2008) while White disabled youth in foster care were found to experience more restrictions in accessing the community (Schmidt et al, 2013).…”

“…Among the latter, there are more boys than girls in foster care (Slayter & Springer, 2011;Smith, 2002). Boys in foster care face higher levels of restrictiveness than girls in relation to communication, movement around the foster home and accessing the community (Schmidt et al, 2013). In a sample of 77 young people in Minnesota, 88% of whom were disabled, boys were more likely than girls to experience long delays for adoption, the average wait overall being 11.8 years (Avery, 2000).…”

“…A rvices using structured measures. Schmidt et al (2013) used a standardised measure to examine how young people in foster care viewed the restrictiveness of their care environment. They found that disabled children found it more restrictive than other children.…”

The sexuality of young women with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A neglected focus in the American foster care system

“…42 By collaborating with those involved in the child's education to impart these skills, the child welfare system ensures that foster youth with ID/DD have been prepared for a safe and successful transition into young adulthood. 43 A school psychologist or social worker may be particularly well suited to serve as a liaison bringing together all adults invested in the youth's educational success, given their knowledge of the special education system, the educational impact of disabilities, and appreciation for diverse backgrounds and experiences. 44 …”

Reaching everyone: Promoting the inclusion of youth with disabilities in evaluating foster care outcomes

“…Eligibility for special education services is often used to identify disability in children and youth; and is defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) as having specific learning, intellectual, hearing, speech or language, visual, serious emotional, orthopedic, or health impairments, as well as autism, traumatic brain injury, deaf-blindness or multiple disabilities that impede learning and require special education services. Direct comparison of child welfare and state special education records tends to reveal additional youth with disabilities, such that Hill (2012) and Schmidt and colleagues (in press) found that 60% of the youth in foster care were identified as experiencing a disability.…”