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Interviewed caregivers of related children who were in the custody of the state child welfare system, as the state implemented new federal and state policies encouraging caregivers to adopt or assume guardianship of the children in their care. Noted issues of concern and caregiver recommendations for the child welfare system. (Author)

The article focuses on a study, which examined the relationship between age of parent and maltreatment of children. The relationship between these two was examined by grouping parents of children in foster care and maltreating parents in Illinois into two categories adolescent parents and adult parents. The study also analyzed whether adolescent parents were overrepresented within the maltreating and out-of-home care populations. For the study, data collected by Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on heads of households with children in care and on maltreating parents were analyzed. Findings of the study suggested that adolescents were not overrepresented either in the population of maltreating parents or in the population of heads of households with children in care.