Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Most studies of children in the child welfare system examine children in one of three ways: using a point in time approach (the number of children in care at a particular point in time); an entry cohort approach (the number of children entering care during a specified period of time); or an exit cohort approach (the number of children leaving care during a specified period of time). While each of these types of analysis is appropriate to answer specific research questions, none of these methods can give a full picture of the total number of children in the population who have been affected by the child welfare system. This study uses longitudinal child welfare data extracted from an administrative data system to examine the total number of children in California (ages 0-5) who have ever had experience with the California child welfare system by race/ethnicity. Actual results from existing data are compared to results produced using life tables to estimate lifetime incidence of contact with the child welfare system. Children's experience with the foster care system can vary from cursory contact through a referral to more invasive practices such as removal from the birth family. This analysis examines four levels of contact with the child welfare system: (1) foster care referrals; (2) substantiated foster care referrals; (3) entries into foster care; and (4) entries into non-relative foster care. Using available administrative data from the California Child Welfare Services Case Management System (CWS/CMS) housed at the Center for Social Services Research (CSSR) at the University of California at Berkeley, this study examines the total number of children in California (ages 0-5) who have ever had experience with the California Child Welfare system at each of the four levels mentioned above during their lives. These analyses are presented in total and by race/ethnicity in order to examine racial disproportionality in the child welfare system. Additionally, an epidemiologic method to estimate the lifetime incidence of child welfare experience (life tables) is compared to the actual numbers of children who have come in contact with the child welfare system. The use of a life table to estimate lifetime incidence holds promise in allowing state and county officials to estimate lifetime incidence without having vast amounts of historical data. The usefulness and potential pit falls of the life table approach are explored in relation to historic child welfare trends. Implications for further research and avenues for further exploration are discussed.