Background: Scant research exists on how abused and neglected children view the foster care experience and how those views change over time. Recent findings suggest that these children generally feel positively toward their out of home care providers (Chapman, Wall, & Barth, 2004). However, within this large group, smaller groups of youth exist, some who are positive about the out of home experience and some who are not.

Data: This study uses data from two waves of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, the first national probability sample of children assessed following child abuse and neglect reports and followed over time. The current investigation uses two samples of youth who were in foster care at the baseline data collection point (n=608) and a sample that remained in care 18 months post investigation (n=396).

Methods: In this investigation, person-centered analysis techniques are used to define classes of youth who are distinguished by their differing experiences in foster care. Using M Plus to conduct mixture modeling, a particularly robust, semi-parametric type of cluster analysis, these classes are then related to a variety of covariates at two points in time including placement type, abuse types, and well-being measures.

Results: At baseline, classes identified include youth who are content in care but want reunification (45%), those who are content and desire permanency with the current caregiver (21%), those who are discontent and want reunification (22%) and those who are content but are unsure of what they want for the future (12%). At the 18 month point, the classes have changed to a class that is discontent and ambivalent (6%), a class that is discontent and but hopes for reunification with their birth families (24%), a content class that desires permanency with the current caregiver (43%), and a class that is content but still desires reunification (27%). Youth in all classes at both time points express a desire for continued connection with some members of their biological families. In addition, the analysis suggests that children in these classes appear to differ on placement type, well-being scores, and, at 18 months, the stability of their placement experience. Implications: Person-centered research methods can help identify sub-classes of children with different outcomes. The class structure changed for children who remained in care over time. These findings highlight the complicated experiences of youth in care which have implications for intervention and policy research on foster parent training, visitation within child welfare, and externally imposed permanency time limits.

References

Chapman, M.V., Wall, A.M., Barth, R.P. (2004). Children's Voices: Foster children's view of placement. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74(3)293-304.