What explains instability in foster care? Comparison of a matched sample of children with stable and unstable placements

Is higher placement stability in kinship foster care by virtue or design?

“…Studies differ in their generalizability, rigor in accounting for social selection, and length of observation. These differences in measurement and study methods lead to somewhat different conclusions, though nearly all studies suggest greater stability in kinship care, at least in the short term (Chamberlain et al, 2006; Koh & Testa, 2008; Koh, 2010; Koh, Rolock, Cross, & Eblen-Manning, 2014; Strijker, Knorth, & Knot-Dickscheit, 2008; Usher, Randolph, & Gogan, 1999; Webster, Barth, & Needell, 2000; Winokur, Holtan, & Valentine, 2009). …”

“…It is unclear whether children who stay in care longer are more likely to have multiple placements simply because they remain at risk of placement disruption for a longer period of time, or because the characteristics associated with long stays in foster care are also associated with placement instability. Nevertheless, studies that only consider the first placement change or follow children for a shorter period of time tend to find larger effects of kinship care, with some estimates suggesting that children's risk of any placement change or having a higher number of placement changes is exponentially higher in NRFC as compared with KC (Chamberlain et al, 2006; Koh et al, 2014; Webster et al, 2000). 2 …”

Head Start's Impact on Cognitive Outcomes for Children in Foster Care

“…The sample size of children in foster care was not large enough to examine more specific subgroup effects, and this was further challenged by the shifting population of children in and out of the foster care system. There are many different factors that can affect a child's wellbeing, including the stability of their placement, how much time they have spent in foster care and the education and wellbeing of their caregivers (Berger et al , ; Koh et al , ). A future study should examine a more detailed process for improving developmental outcomes for children in foster care.…”

Long-term Head Start Impact on developmental outcomes for children in foster care

“…The sample size of children in foster care was not large enough to examine more specific subgroup effects, and this was further challenged by the shifting population of children in and out of the foster care system. There are many different factors that can affect a child's wellbeing, including the stability of their placement, how much time they have spent in foster care and the education and wellbeing of their caregivers (Berger et al, 2009;Koh et al, 2014). A future study should examine a more detailed process for improving developmental outcomes for children in foster care.…”