The Road to Reunification: Family and Agency Factors Associated with Post-Reunification Success

Background and Purpose

The Children and Family Service Reviews have identified re-entry into foster care as a challenge for state child welfare systems, given the negative impact of removals on child development and mental health. These disruptions in attachment are particularly detrimental for infants and young children, who are undergoing critical periods of brain development. Furthermore, despite increasing diversity in the U.S. and racial and ethnic disproportionality in child welfare outcomes, little is known about the role that race and ethnicity plays in successful reunifications (e.g., no re-entry into foster care), especially examining both family- and state system-factors that may impact successful reunification.

Methods

Secondary data analyses were run using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis System (AFCARS), an annually collected administrative database containing the population of children in care for each fiscal year. The analytic sample for this paper included N=54,720 children aged 0-5 years who exited foster care in the U.S. during 2012 to reunify with a biological parent. These cases were then tracked during 2013-2015 to compare those that re-entered care to those that remained reunified. A two-level hierarchical model was run to examine family factors associated with successful reunification while controlling for agency-level factors. All analyses were run using SAS version 9.4.

Results

Overall, 16.95% (n= 9277) of children ages 0-5 who exited foster care in 2012 to reunify with biological parents re-entered care within three years. Only 4.6% of the variance in successful reunification was accounted for at the state system level, with the rest occurring at the family-level. African-American and Latino children had higher odds of successful reunification than their White peers, but these relationships varied significantly by state child welfare system. African-American children had lower rates of successful reunification than White children in 12 states, and Latino children had lower rates of successful reunification than White children in 15 states. Parental drug decreased the odds of successful reunification (AOR=.76, 95% CI= .72-.80, p<.001), as did state-wide poverty rates (AOR=1.03, 95% CI=1.00, 1.05, p<.05) and state-average time-to-reunify (AOR=1.05, 95% CI=1.01, 1.09, p<.05).

Conclusions and Implications

Even after controlling for family- and state system-factors, child race and ethnicity impacts the odds of successful reunification. Across the U.S., traditionally overrepresented races or ethnicities such as African American and Latino children fare better than their White counterparts. Yet, almost one-fourth of specific state child welfare systems continue to have racial and ethnic disparities. Therefore, future research could examine what state child welfare systems have implemented to improve successful reunification rates for minority children. Implications for practice include monitoring rates of successful reunification for families of color and working with families to identify and provide interventions that are culturally sensitive. Other implications include adopting policies to prioritize and fund family-centered interventions and allowing families more time to achieve reunification.