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Background: A growing body of research has focused on the relationships of policies and other macro factors and child welfare outcomes. However, to date, few studies have examined state child welfare policies and reunification, despite reunification being the priority case goal among children in foster care., Objective: This study examined the relationship between state child welfare policies and other macro factors and reunification, while controlling for child factors., Participants and Setting: Data came from the 2016-2019 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), which contains case-level information on all children in foster care during each fiscal year., Methods: We conducted a series of multi-level survival analyses to observe the fixed effects of state-level factors and child-level factors on time to reunification among children who entered foster care in 2016., Results: In the unadjusted model, children in states with Title IV-E stipend programs for caseworkers had higher hazards of reunification (HR = 1.21, 95 % CI = 1.01-1.44) as did children in states with statewide in-home post-reunification services (HR = 1.63, 95 % CI = 1.16-2.28). Children in states that required a master's degree for caseworkers had lower hazards of reunification (HR = 0.72, 95 % CI = 0.59-0.95)., Conclusions: Findings from this study highlight the importance of considering state policies and their impact on reunification. Implications for policy, practice, and research are explored., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to report., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Since the mid-1990s, over 10,0000 children have immigrated to the United States annually via international adoption. These children bring to their families unique strengths, as well as the possibility, for some, of physical, emotional and behavioral health risks, and challenges. This article presents predictive models on behavioral health problems for one group of international adoptees from Romania (n = 216). It is a companion piece to an earlier article that described behavior issues and compared the international adoptees to a group of children adopted through the public child welfare system using a cross-sectional approach. This article illustrates that a history of institutionalization had minimal long-term adverse effects on a child's behavioral health. The parent-child relationship was a strong resource for parents at both time periods. However, there was a strong relationship between parental negative reports with the relationship and child behavior problems.

This study examined the severity of externalizing symptomology among adopted boys with preadoptive histories of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect/abandonment, or no abuse. The study was based on data collected across a three-year period from parents who adopted children from Florida's child welfare system. The sample consisted of 1,136 adopted boys aged 6 to 18 years. In repeated cross-sectional multivariate analyses, the results revealed that adopted boys with preadoptive child sexual abuse were prone to significantly higher levels and clinically severe externalizing symptomotology as compared to adopted boys without such histories. The findings highlight the need for postadoption services and empirically validated interventions for families adopting boys with preadoptive child sexual abuse. (Contains 5 tables.)

Gay men and lesbians often encounter barriers when they pursue adoption. Adoption workers are expected to make decisions regarding child placement using the best interest standard. However, this decision-making model does not adequately consider intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational factors that affect the use of the standard. This article examines the best interest standard and makes practice recommendations to increase the accessibility of adoptions for gay and lesbian applicants.

Recently, there have been reports of children without placement (CWOP) in foster care, often resulting in youth sleeping in hotels or child protective service offices. This study explored perspectives of the current crisis among child welfare practitioners who managed CWOP cases. We conducted interviews with 11 child welfare practitioners who had graduated from two universities in a Southern state. Themes aligned with the trauma-informed framework and highlighted challenges related to organizational climate, workforce development, and trauma-informed services. Implications include strategies for cross-sector collaboration, specific training, and continued research to support a healthy, trauma-informed workforce that can better meet youth needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for 6- to 18-year-olds (2001, parent version) using a sample of African American special needs adopted children, along with a comparison group of Caucasian American special needs adopted children. Reliability and multiple sources of postdictive criterion-related validity were analyzed, and a confirmatory factor analysis of the CBCL within and between participating groups was performed. The results indicate that for practical purposes, the CBCL items appear reliable but not valid in terms of assessing the mental health profiles of both African American and Caucasian youth. These findings are significant because they have important implications for the practical utility of the CBCL in the field for adopted youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Child adoption outcomes are influenced by child''s behavior and parents'' expectations (Haugaard & Hazan, 2003). Pre-adoption risk factors, such as prenatal alcohol, tobacco and/or other drug (ATOD) exposure, male sex, sexual abuse, and multiple out-of-home placements have been linked to increased externalizing (acting out) behaviors that are difficult to manage and are most closely associated with adoption disruption (Barth, 1991, 2001 Rosenthal & Groze, 1991; Smith & Howard, 1999). However, adoption researchers have found that positive outcomes (fewer externalizing behaviors) are possible for children who have been exposed to pre-adoption risk factors, suggesting that adoptive families provide protective environments that allow healing (Barth, 1991, 1993; Barth & Brooks, 2000). The current study sought to increase understanding of the influence of these pre-adoption risk factors on adoption outcome with attention to the influence of prenatal alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drug (ATOD) exposure. Results indicated that pre-adoption functioning was significantly influenced by prenatal ATOD exposure, but post-adoption adjustment was not. Structural equation modeling then was used to analyze both the direct and moderating influences of the identified risk factors on the relationship between the child''s pre-adoption functioning and post-adoption adjustment. Negative influences of the risk factors on the child''s externalizing behavior, individually and additively, in both direct effects and moderation analyses, were not found, with one exception. The only model to have a statistically significant effect was the moderation analysis containing the interaction of all four risk factors. Child development, child welfare, addiction professionals, and adoptive families will find this information to be of value in their quest to facilitate successful adoptions and growth of healthy children and families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Foster children in the public child welfare system are increasingly likely to find lasting homes through kinship adoption by their relatives. The aim of the present study is to examine how the kinship adoptive experience differs from other adoptive types. Using tobit regression analyses, we examine data from 2382 adopted children (kin placements=397 and non-kin placements=1985). We report that kin adoptive parents more negatively assessed adoption''s impact on their family and the family''s current functioning. However, the family bond with the adoptee also appears to influence positively a kin family''s willingness to adopt the same child again, to be generally satisfied with the overall adoption, and to report a positive relationship with the adopted child. Kinship adoptions appear more readily to produce positive outcomes and permanent placements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Little research on adoption disruption. has been conducted in recent years, particularly with large populations and multi-variate methods. Utilizing administrative data on 15,947 children, this study examines adoption disruption in a large state child welfare system in the United States in the three years leading up to and the three years following the passage of ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act), a federal law that mandates speedier movement to termination of parental rights and adoptive placement when parents do not make acceptable progress. Through a Cox proportional hazards model, the risk and protective factors associated with disruption are identified. Overall, the risk of disruption was 11 percent less for placements occurring after 1997. Among factors associated with higher risk were older age of the children entering foster care and placements with up to four siblings. Included in factors associated with a lower risk for disruption were race-white children were at a lower risk than African Americans; relative home; and being placed with four or more siblings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Most states utilize some form of a child risk assessment to assist child protection professionals in determining whether or not abuse has occurred. However, there is disagreement in the field on which model of instrument formulation is most appropriate: actuarial, consensus based or blended; thus, no uniform standards exist. In this qualitative study, concept mapping provided the framework for child protection researchers and professionals to identify items they believed should be included in a child welfare risk assessment. These items were then grouped together under six separate headings, an instrument was generated, and participants were asked to rate each item on its empirical basis and again on its social work values basis. Data were analyzed to determine whether empirical rating and values-based rating differences between items were statistically significant. Sixteen items met this criterion. Potential implications for the field and the need for further research on risk assessments are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents study which surveyed public child welfare workers at two Southern universities concerning their readiness to engage in culturally responsive practice. Topics discussed include levels of cultural responsiveness reported by those in the child welfare workforce, readiness of child welfare professionals to work with LGBTQ+ clients and families, and relationship between cultural responsiveness and sociodemographic characteristics of social workers working in child welfare.