A small 2015 study examined how child welfare workers in England, Norway, and California (USA) assessed emotional bonding as a risk factor for children. The California workers were significantly less likely to note this as a risk factor than the workers in England or Norway. This difference is likely due to the education, and assessment tools used by each child welfare system. In California, the Structured Decision Making (SDM) risk assessment tool, which only has a single q

In July 2018, The Journal of Public Child Welfare, published “Exploring trauma-informed practice in public child welfare through qualitative data-mining of case records,” by Sarah Taylor, Claire Battis, Sarah Carnochan, Colleen Henry, Margaret Balk, and Michael J. Austin.The study used qualitative data-mining to determine how trauma-informed practice manifested in the child welfare system. In response to a lawsuit, in 2011, the Courts mandated better coordination between the

In 2017, researchers published a study that found more than 50% of 2,241 youth ages 17-24 accessing homeless services in San Francisco County between 2011 and 2014 had a report to Children Protective Services (CPS) for child abuse or neglect during childhood. For the first time, researchers matched up administrative data from California CPS records and records of homeless youth accessing services. The study found that “Homeless female youth were significantly more likely to h

A study published in 2015 looked at how poly-victimization impacted girls in the criminal justice system. This information is particularly pertinent to those of us who work with foster youth, who, by definition, have been the victims of abuse. It seems that interventions at both an early age and at adolescence could have a positive impact on the outcomes for girls who are survivors of abuse and who have witnessed violence in their family or community. There are three types o

The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) recently released “Trauma-Informed Care in Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs and Foster Family Agencies” in response to a May 9, 2018 All County Information Notice (ACIN) issued by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). The ACIN outlines the requirements for trauma-informed care (TIC) for Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs). STRTPs are part of the Continuum of Care R

It has been well established that foster youth have dismal educational outcomes. Less than half graduate from high school. Only 11.8% of former foster youth have a college degree by the time they are 25-years-old compared to 28% of their non-foster peers. Although these outcomes are well known, there has not been research on the experiences of foster youth in school until a recently published study examined this issue. A large-scale study published in 2018 comparing foster yo

Recently the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) issued “A Guide for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs)” CEBC is one of the best tools for easily finding evidence-based practices in child welfare. In an earlier blog I discuss this tool in more detail, and their guide for CASAs does not disappoint. It includes three sections: Understanding Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) Recorded CEBC Webinars, including “Knowing the best of what’s out there,” “Evidence-based

A study published in 2017 showed that the highest teen birth rates for foster youth in California were for young women who entered the system between the ages of 13 and 16, were in care for a relatively short period of time, lived in congregate care at the approximate date of conception, had a history of running away, and were Latina, Black or Native American. According to the study, Predictors of Early Childbirth Among Female Adolescents in Foster Care, the “Research indicat

Research in 2013 on a foster youth mentoring program in Texas shows that these programs need careful design, training, and support to be effective. Although the program had severe limitations due to the small sample size and because the outcomes were determined by satisfaction surveys of the youth and mentors as well as the subjective impressions of the mentors about how their youth fared rather than measurable outcomes, the findings have some valuable lessons, particularly f

Both male and female parents who age out of the foster care system have a 50% unemployment rate in the first year they exit the child welfare system. For those who are working the average annual earnings were just $7,310, which is considerably lower than the poverty level for a single parent with a child of $16,317 in 2014. Although employment was not correlated with the age of the youth at the birth of their first child, giving birth at younger ages did correlate with lower

A 2017 research study looked at educational outcomes for foster youth in extended foster care. Currently 22 states have some form of extended foster care for foster youth up to the age of 21. In comparing educational outcomes for youth who leave care at 18 and those remain in care the researchers determined that extended foster care has a dramatic impact on educational attainment for foster youth. The research found that for every additional year of foster care past age 18 th

Former foster youth studied in California, Minnesota and North Carolina had low rates of employment at age 24 compared to other low-income youth and to national comparison group of similarly aged youth. Additionally, female employment was higher than male employment, but they earned much less than their male counterparts, and African American unemployment rate was much higher than their White peers. Most problematic, the employment gaps worsen as foster youth age. By age 30,

The Center for State Child Welfare Data at the University of Chicago Chapin Hall released “Understanding the Differences in How Adolescents Leave Foster Care” in November 2017. The report finds age, gender, and racial differences for how adolescents leave foster care. Most foster youth leaving foster care for the first time will move to permanency, including reunification, adoption, and guardianship. The second most likely ways for youth to leave foster care is to age out or

It has been well documented that foster youth have high rates of prescribed psychotropic drug use. Most of this research has focused on children in the foster care system. A December 2017 study, however, examined the prevalence of behavioral health disorders, including substance use disorders, as well as the use of psychotropic medication and therapeutic counseling as foster youth transition into adulthood in California. The study found that positive screening for behavioral

In a recently released study Harvard researchers determined that the black-white wage gap is the result of large differences in wages and employment rates between black and white men. There is no difference between black and white women. The differences in family characteristics (parental marital status, education level and wealth) and ability did not have much of an impact. Even among boys who grew up in the same neighborhoods, black boys earned substantially less as adults.

A 2015 study found that youth represented by a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer were significantly more likely to have a permanency outcome of adoption or reunification with a birth relative, but not their birth parents. This study looked at foster youth in the rural Tennessee county of Anderson, which is predominantly white (92.2%). The study examined closed files over 18 years from 1995 to 2012, comparing permanency outcomes for youth who had a CASA volunte

According to a report released Last week schools suspend foster youth five times more frequently than the average, and black male foster youth have the highest suspension rates in the state. The overall suspension rate in California is 3.6%. Overall, schools suspend foster youth at the rate of 15.1%, and they suspend black male foster youth at the rate of 27.4%. 41% of seventh and eighth are black foster children. The Community College Equity Assessment Lab and UCLA Black Mal

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the front page of the paper on Feb. 17, 2018 titled, “Girl’s undue jailing exemplifies plight of foster youth in custody.” The article details the story of a 14-year-old girl who ran away from a group home in San Joaquin County who police booked on five felony charges after they arrested her for vandalism at a nearby hospital. She remained jailed for weeks after her guilty plea because the foster care system could not find housin

Ballard, P.J., Hoyt, L.T. & Pachucki, M.C., Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood (2018), Child Development Kim, J. & Morgul, K, Long-term consequences of youth volunteering: Voluntary versus involuntary service (Sept. 2017). Social Science Research, Vol. 67, pp. 160-175 These research studies looked at the impact of civic engagement in adolescence on adult physical and mental health, educational attainment, and

This power point explains why empirical research is as important in social science as it is for medical science. Although an intervention may seem to be common sense as far as doing good, this may not be the case. Those of us working in social work need to be especially careful that we are not causing harm when we are trying to do good. #CourtAppointedSpecialAdvocates #Trauma #AnnWrixon