Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 8:00 AM

This presentation is part of: Foster Care and Adoption

Understanding System Responses to ASFA for Families with Substance Abuse Issues: Differences in Treatment and Permanency Outcomes

Substance abuse is a major issue confronting families who are involved with child welfare services. Problems with alcohol and drug use are present in between 40%-80% of the families known to child welfare agencies (Tracy, 1994; DHHS 1999; National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 1999). With the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA, P. L. 105-89, 1997), the complex issues involved in dealing with these parents have become the focus of increased attention. One hoped-for consequence of ASFA was to improve the availability of timely and effective services for these parents. The purpose of the present study was: (1) to examine the influence of ASFA on permanency and treatment outcomes on a large sample of families with substance abuse issues involved with the child welfare system; and (2) to conduct in-depth case studies about factors influencing treatment access and permanency outcomes in the post-ASFA environment. Methdology. Using a statewide administrative datasystem, we identified 2319 families in which substance abuse was a primary case issue, but whose cases fell before the implementation of ASFA. A second group of 2592 families with similar case characteristics but whose first out-of-home placement occurred post-ASFA were also identified. Each family was tracked for a minimum of 15 months and a maximum of 39 months following the first substitute care placement. Treatment system data was obtained for each family that accessed publicly-funded treatment. We conducted longitudinal case studies with 15 families and their service providers (caseworkers, substance abuse treatment counselors, lawyers, and others involved with the case). Families and providers were interviewed up to 6 times in the course of their case, and were tracked for 2 years. Findings in Brief Permanency Outcomes. The rate of adoptions increased significantly for the post-ASFA cohort, from 6% to 8.5%, and increased significantly more for children under 3, Hispanic children, and African American children. Additionally, the length of time spent in foster care was significantly lower post-ASFA: 390 days vs. 367 days, on average, per child. Treatment Outcomes. There were no differences pre and post ASFA in the percentage of caregivers accessing substance abuse treatment. However, the time that elapsed between the removal of the child from the home and the caregiver’s entry into treatment was significantly less post-ASFA, by about one month (142 days pre-ASFA vs. 111 days post-ASFA). The Relationship of Treatment to Permanency. Our final set of analyses explored the relationship between treatment access and permanency outcomes. Essentially, results suggested that women who accessed treatment (compared to those who did not) were more likely to have a child still in foster care at the end of the data collection window, and had longer lengths of stay in substtute care. However, among the subsample of women who did access treatment, those who did so faster had significantly shorter lengths of stay, even controlling for demographic variables, child welfare history, treatment history, and substance abuse severity. These children were also significantly more likely to be reunified with their parents, controlling for these case characteristics.

See more of Foster Care and Adoption
See more of Oral and Poster

See more of Celebrating a Decade of SSWR (January 13 - 16, 2005)