Predicting Risk of Placement: A Population-based Study of Out-of-Home Placement, Child Maltreatment, and Emergency Housing

Abstract

Guided by a developmental epidemiology framework, this study examines the extent to which first experiences of child maltreatment and use of emergency housing are predictive of out-of-home placement in early childhood. The study sample is a population of 12,045 second-grade students in a large, urban school district. Information on birth, maternal, and social risk factors was obtained and linked through an integrated data system. Life table analyses were used to develop a descriptive picture of the timing of first out-of-home placement experience. Findings demonstrate that children are most likely to experience a first out-of-home placement during their first year of life. Cox regression analyses are used to examine the extent to which variables for risk factors (specifically child maltreatment and use of emergency housing) predict the first out-of-home placement experience while controlling for demographics, birth risks, and maternal risks. Results demonstrate that children with histories of child maltreatment or emergency housing use are more likely than peers without such histories to be placed in out-of-home care. Further, children with histories of both child maltreatment and emergency housing use are less likely to be placed in outof-home care than children who have experienced either child maltreatment or emergency housing use (but not both). Findings point to the importance of interagency collaboration and a focus on young children for addressing the needs of vulnerable young children and their families.

The experience of family homelessness.

“…Compared with housed children, children experiencing homelessness are more likely to be involved with child protective service and have higher rates of substantiated maltreatment (Park, Metraux, Brodbar, & Culhane, 2004). In fact, Perlman and Fantuzzo (2013) found that almost 40% of children who had lived in emergency housing had experienced substantiated child abuse or neglect.…”

The unique relations between early homelessness and educational well-being: An empirical test of the Continuum of Risk Hypothesis

“…These histories of trauma and mental health diagnoses can impede parents' ability to respond sensitively and consistently to the needs of their children. Parents experiencing homelessness also experience higher rates of separation from their children, due to placement in foster or kinship care for extended periods of times (Barrow, Lawinski, 2009; Perlman & Fantuzzo, 2013). Cumulatively, these experiences result in significant disruptions in the parent-child relationship and negatively affect children's interactions with teachers and classmates.…”

A review of the relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect: Insights from scoping reviews, systematic reviews and meta‐analyses

“…When establishing a prevalence threshold for including a study, it was decided to include analyses of populations where all children were victims of CAN on the measures outlined above and populations of children in out‐of‐home care, known as looked after children (CLA) in England. Child maltreatment is the key factor, internationally, leading to children being separated from their birth families and placed in out‐of‐home care (Perlman & Fantuzzo, 2013). Out‐of‐home‐care populations contain a large proportion of children and young people who have experienced CAN.…”