When Home Is Still Unsafe: From Family Reunification to Foster Care Reentry

Abstract

Reuniting children with their families is the preferred outcome of foster care, yet many children reunited with their families reenter foster care. This study examined how parental substance abuse and mental health problems, and the time allotted for reunification, are associated with reentry risk. We used a complete cohort of children who entered the Texas foster care system in fiscal years 2008-2009 to identify the risk of foster care reentry within five years of reunification using selection-adjusted multi-level survival analysis. Approximately 16% of reunified children reentered care within 5 years. Substance abuse and mental health problems predicted higher rates of reentry. Reunification after 12 months was associated with increased reentry risk overall, but not among children commonly exempted from federal permanency timelines. Permanency guidelines that restrict the length of time to achieve reunification may have the unintended consequence of pushing reunification before maltreatment risks have been resolved.

Reunification in Custodial Grandfamilies: An Examination of Resilient Family Processes

“…Reunifications are likely to be unsuccessful when children are reunified with their parents before the factors contributing to their removal are addressed (Bellamy, 2008;Font et al, 2018). Children may be returning to risky environments, including dangerous neighborhoods, unstable housing, parental unemployment, poverty, and domestic violence (Bellamy, 2008;Fernandez et al, 2019;Lau et al, 2003).…”

“…In the context of child welfare policy, specifically the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89), reuniting children with their birth parents or family of origin is a primary permanency goal (Font et al, 2018;Kimberlin et al, 2009). Federal law also mandates permanency hearings within 12 months of a child entering care to mitigate the disruption associated with excessively long placements; this results in many reunifications occurring within a year of a child's removal Family Relations 70 (February 2021): 225-245 from the home (Bellamy, 2008;Kimberlin et al, 2009;Wulczyn, 2004).…”

“…Ideally, reunifications will be successful, meaning that the child will be able to live safely and permanently with their biological parents (Kimberlin et al, 2009). Unfortunately, this is not always the case: Only half of children in foster care are ever reunified, and within 5 years, approximately 20% of those children return to foster care (Font et al, 2018).…”

Violence and Maltreatment in Intimate Relationships: A Family Science Analysis

“…At the core of these many questions are conceptual dilemmas that persist in VMIR scholarship. For example, VMIR scholars continue to try to understand the effects of corporal punishment on children in order to delineate boundaries between parental discipline and child abuse (e.g., Altschul et al, 2016) and to better understand how and whether ongoing family concerns (e.g., substance abuse, mental illness) pose safety risks for foster cases considered for family reunification (e.g., Font, Sattler, & Gershoff, 2018). The authors successfully use a social constructionist perspective to grapple with these complex debates surrounding child maltreatment.…”

Rapid return of children in residential care to family as a result of COVID-19: Scope, challenges, and recommendations

“…Children and parents need the opportunity to communicate, bond, and develop their relationship prior to reintegration. If the reintegration process is not properly implemented, there can be significant consequences, including re-entry into alternative care, including residential care ( Font, Sattler, & Gershoff, 2018 ).…”