Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose: Increased national attention has underscored the importance of promoting educational well-being for children who have been placed in out-of-home care. Research demonstrates that children with a history of out-of-home placement do not fare as well as their peers academically. Recent national data indicate that over 500,000 children were in foster care in 2005 and of these 40% were seven years old or younger. A handful of studies have examined the relationship between out-of-home placement and educational well-being, however most of these studies have used small samples of convenience and have not accounted for the presence of other known risk factors. The present study examined the unique impact of out-of-home placement and the mediating effects of child maltreatment and homelessness on the academic achievement and school adjustment of an entire cohort of second grade children in a large urban school district, as well as the timing of each of these social risk factors.

Methods: Data on children's birth risks, demographics, child maltreatment, homelessness and out-of-home placement experiences were integrated for an entire cohort of second grade children (n > 12,000). Independent and dependent variables were measured using the Kids Integrated Data System (KIDS). This system represents a university – city partnership and provides integrated administrative records across relevant departments. The study addressed three primary research questions: (1) What is the social risk history within a cohort of second grade students in a large urban school district? (2) To what extent do child maltreatment and homelessness function as mediating factors on the influence of out-of-home placement on academic achievement and classroom behavioral adjustment? (3) What is the timing of child maltreatment and homelessness relative to out-of-home placement? Frequency analyses and chi-square analyses were used to address question one. Mediational analyses, as outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986) were used to address question two. Question three was addressed using two forms of event history analysis: life table analysis and time-dependent Cox regression analysis.

Results: Analyses found a high percentage of co-occurrence of out-of-home placement and child maltreatment/homelessness. Both child maltreatment and homelessness mediated the relationship between out-of-home placement and performance on standardized assessments of literacy, numeracy, science, and truancy. An exploration of the timing of the social risks found that children were at the greatest risk of experiencing each of the social risk factors in the first year of life and that child maltreatment and homelessness significantly predicted to out-of-home placement.

Implications: Findings from this population-based study provide insight into the impact of social risks on children's early educational well-being – as well as the timing of these risks in early childhood. The high co-occurrence of each of the social risk factors underscores the need for interagency dialogue and collaborations to enhance service integration for vulnerable young children. Furthermore, findings on the timing of first occurrence of out-of-home placement, child maltreatment and homelessness support the importance of early intervention and quality early childhood educational experiences.