Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Introduction: Group homes fall into the broad category of residential care, a category that also includes half-way homes, campus based homes, and emergency shelters. In general, residential care represents an option of last resort. That is, child welfare systems attempt to work with children in the least restrictive environment (e.g. biological or foster home). When such environments are unavailable or insufficient with regard to meeting needs of individuals, child welfare systems move youth up the continuum of care and into more restrictive settings. In the current report we investigate the relationship between group home placements and the initiation of delinquent offending. We also identify the location of each youth at the time of arrest (e.g. in placement, on home visit, awol) and compare offense types across placement settings.

Methods and Results: The current study represents a unique data sharing agreement between DCFS and Probation in Los Angeles County. The sample includes 20,309 adolescents between 7 and 16 years of age with at least one episode of out of home placement. The design is longitudinal in that the period of observation is four years (2002-2005). We use cross-tabulation and chi-square to explore the relationship between group home status and delinquency. We use survival analysis to examine the influence of individual variables on survival rates. The average time at risk in the current study is 1,384 days (3.7 years). The sample is 43% African American, 40% Hispanic, 15% white and 2% Asian. Forty-eight percent of the sample is male. With regard to placement type, 71% had at least one placement in foster care, 53% had at least one placement in a relative care home and 23% had at least one placement in a group home. Of the 20,309 adolescents, 2,106 (10.4%) were arrested at least one time subsequent to the start of their first placement. Controlling for a wide variety of covariates, the risk of delinquency is more than two times greater for adolescents in group homes. With regard to location, 32% of all offending occurred in the group home (as opposed to another placement location or while the adolescent was on a home visit). With regard to offense type, adolescents in group homes are significantly more likely to engage in violent offenses (38%) as compared with adolescents in non relative foster homes (21%) and relative foster homes (20%).

Conclusion: Victims of physical abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of engaging in delinquent behavior. Prior research indicates that certain placements increase this risk. Yet it was not clear where the delinquent offending actually occurred or whether offending types varied by placement. The findings from the current study indicate that although the majority of adolescents in the child welfare system never enter a group home placement – such placements account for nearly one third of all child welfare arrests. Moreover, adolescents in group homes are more likely to be arrested for a violent offense. The findings for policy and practice are discussed.