Emergency shelter care utilization in child welfare: Who goes to shelter care? How long do they stay?

Abstract

Emergency shelter care for children entering foster care is widely used as a temporary first placement, despite its contraindications. However, little research has examined predictors of utilization (e.g., entry into care, length of stay in care). A sample of 123 children (ages 6-13) entering foster care was studied to explore the variables associated with an initial placement in shelter care versus kinship care and variables associated with children staying less than 30 days in the shelter versus 30 days or longer. After applying a classification tree analysis (CTA via Optimal Data Analysis), results indicated that variables across the child's ecology--specifically the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem--were associated with increased emergency shelter utilization, including older age, entering as a dependency case, more relatives and fictive kin with barriers to involvement in the child's life, and the child welfare agency serving the child. These results suggest that although emergency shelter care utilization may be determined by a complex interaction of variables across the child's ecology, policy and programmatic attention to some of these risk factors might be effective in limiting utilization so that children can enter care with a more long-term, family-based placement.

Emergency residential care settings: A model for service assessment and design

“…1 and Table 1 for a global picture of the evaluation). Although emergency care settings have been recognized as an important part of the child protection and care system (Hurley et al, 2006;Leon et al, 2016), to our knowledge this is the first time that an in-depth assessment of such a service − drawing on multiple studies and several informants − is delivered. This assessment allowed for highlighting a set of features in each service component (Fig.…”

“…Against this backdrop, one type of residential care service is in particular need of research, given the strikingly scant empirical attention that it has received so far − which contrasts with the role this service often plays as gateway into the child welfare system (cf. Hurley, Ingram, Czyz, Juliano, & Wilson, 2006;Leon, Jhe Bai, Fuller, & Busching, 2016). Specifically, we refer to emergency residential care settings for children and youth who are at risk or in danger.…”

“…Specifically, we refer to emergency residential care settings for children and youth who are at risk or in danger. These settings offer temporary placement in group care, usually while a case assessment is underway and/or a more permanent placement is being planned (Leon et al, 2016;Oakes & Freundlich, 2005). A small set of studies have explored how variables of the children associate with other variables such as placement, length of stay and subsequent referrals with regard to emergency care (e.g., Hurley et al, 2006;Koehn, Thompson, Authier, & Bosco, 2001;Leon et al, 2016;Oakes & Freundlich, 2005;Wattenberg, Luke, & Cornelius, 2004), but no studies have yet offered a description and analysis of a service model (i.e., "contents of care") for this type of care.…”

“…These settings offer temporary placement in group care, usually while a case assessment is underway and/or a more permanent placement is being planned (Leon et al, 2016;Oakes & Freundlich, 2005). A small set of studies have explored how variables of the children associate with other variables such as placement, length of stay and subsequent referrals with regard to emergency care (e.g., Hurley et al, 2006;Koehn, Thompson, Authier, & Bosco, 2001;Leon et al, 2016;Oakes & Freundlich, 2005;Wattenberg, Luke, & Cornelius, 2004), but no studies have yet offered a description and analysis of a service model (i.e., "contents of care") for this type of care. This goes against recommendations for researching specific interventions applied in residential care, to pave the way for an increased understanding of how different outcomes are achieved, instead of simply examining the outcomes that are achieved (Harder & Knorth, 2015;Libby, Coen, Price, Silverman, & Orton, 2005).…”

Impact of Emergency Shelter Utilization and Kinship Involvement on Children’s Behavioral Outcomes

“…Emergency shelter care has been defined in numerous ways; we use the terms emergency shelter care and shelter care to refer to emergency placements in congregate care settings while a permanent placement is being arranged (Leon, Jhe Bai, Fuller, & Busching, 2016b). There are four reasons why the child welfare system arguably needs emergency shelter care as a transitional placement option.…”