The Impact of Infant/Toddler Court Teams on Re-Entry

Purpose: This oral presentation provides preliminary results of the impact of an infant/toddler court team intervention in Maricopa County, Arizona on re-entry for 4,681 infants and toddlers. Five cohorts entering care from 2010-2014 are tracked.  Cradles to Crayons (C2C) follows the Safe Babies Court Team model with 10 core components (MCombs-Thornton, 2011).[1]    This presentation demonstrates the impact of the court team on  stability as defined by the  Children’s Bureau (2012):  the number of children who experienced re-entry into out of home care within twelve month of  reunification with relative or guardian. [2]

Methods: This research utilized a quasi-experimental design to assess stability prior to the court team intervention and after the court team was in place in Maricopa County, Arizona.  Children in each of the five years of cohorts were tracked to December 31, 2015 on placement  stability and a range of other case characteristics.  Regression models were estimated to determine the impact of the program, prior placement instability and case characteristics on placement stability.

Results:  The regression results demonstrate significant program effects on placement stability.  The court team reduced the number of children who re-entered care after reunification and increased the length of time children remained in the home after reunification.  On average, the number of children who reentered care after achieving reunification for a twelve month period decreased from 15% of the total number of children removed to 3%.  For Maricopa County, this effect translates into 492 infants and toddlers who experienced increased stability. If the removal occurred at birth, however, these results were slightly stronger.   

Implications: The results suggest that the Maricopa County infant/toddler court team increased stability for children served by the court teams.  Regression results suggest that the number of placements prior to reunification, time in out-of-home care and several case characteristics such as the age of the child at removal and substance use by the mother significantly impact the probability of re-entry and the length of time the child is reunified before re-entry.   Specifically, children removed at birth where there is a clear indication of substance use by the mother appear to have an increased likelihood of long term stability as a result of the court team intervention. 

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[1] McCombs-Thornton, K. L. (2011). Fostering A Permanent Home: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the ZERO TO THREE Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers Initiative. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL

[2] Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2012). Supporting reunification and preventing reentry into out-of-home care. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau.