Predictors of Stability and Disruption for Children at High Risk for Moves in Foster Care: Relationships and Support

Background: Although disruption of foster care placements has significant negative effects on children’s development, little prospective research has focused on factors that potentially stabilize placements for children at high risk for moves.  Results from intervention studies focused on decreasing behavior problems to lessen risk for moves have been mixed for older children and adolescents, indicating that while evidence-based interventions consistently reduce behavior problems, this reduction does not necessarily lessen risk for moves. There is a critical need to examine a wider range of factors that potentially support stability for children at high risk for disruption to develop more effective services. This prospective study addressed this need by identifying predictors of moves and stability among high-risk children placed in family foster care.  

Methods: Foster parents (N = 150) caring for children age 8-14 (M=11.67; 61% African American) who had a history of two or more moves in foster care were randomly selected across a large Midwestern state.  Participants completed a 90-minute telephone interview (86% response rate) that included standardized measures of behavior problems and functioning, child characteristics (e.g., demographics, diagnoses, academic achievement), social support, community involvement, services, service adequacy (at placement and currently), and the child-foster parent relationship.  Moves from the foster home to another foster home or a residential treatment center were collected for 12 months to assess disruptions. T -tests were used to identify correlates of disruption, and logistic regression models estimated predictors of disruption while controlling for demographic and placement variables (e.g., kinship care, number of prior moves).

Results: At follow up, 38% of the children had moved to a new foster home or residential treatment. Multiple factors were associated with disruptions in bivariate analyses, including lower support of foster parents by service providers, greater risk to others posed by child’s behavior, poor functioning and academic achievement, and receiving less essential information at time of placement (ps < .05). In both bivariate and multivariate analyses, foster parents’ reports of rewarding, close relationships with the child and the child’s high level of foster home integration were significant predictors of stability. Contrary to expectations, behavior problems were not a significant predictor of disruption, but risk to others was a strong, significant predictor. Differences were found for children in the foster home for over a year as compared to those in the home less time, with few factors other than a lower level of foster home integration found to predict disruption among children in the home a longer period. 

Implications: Consistent results from this study and earlier studies indicating that relational factors such as close relationships and foster home integration predict stability regardless of level of behavior problems indicate that these factors should be recognized as potentially key process indicators in interventions designed to support stability for children with a history of moves. Additional research is needed to identify mechanisms to effectively support foster parents and nurture positive, close family relationships as well as reduce behavior problems. In particular, experimental research to develop and disseminate services to promote stability is critically needed.