Examining Socioeconomic Contextual Factors Effects on Cfsr-3 Performance and Race-Specific Outcomes

Successful child maltreatment surveillance means children and families receive services equitably based on genuine needs and this reduces the likelihood of future reports and investigations. Evidence shows that the efficacy of child welfare services varies and is dependent on individual, family, and case characteristics, geographical context, and organizational capacity of the state child welfare agency itself. Our project examined how state child welfare performance on the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR-3) differ across states and within states, and how performance was associated with racial disparities in the child welfare system. We assessed the relationship over time between state child welfare agencies’ CFSR-3 performance by racial subgroups to examine racial disparities, and (2) we evaluated the role of state and county socioeconomic contextual factors in explaining state performance on the CFSR-3. We used comparable data (child welfare, Census, etc.), approaches and methods covering individual, county, state, and time. We estimated race-specific hierarchical linear models with individual-level demographic and case characteristics of children, state and county socioeconomic contextual factors, and CFSR-3 performance-improvement plans (PIP). Findings across permanency in less than 12, 12-23, and 24 months, placement stability, foster reentry, and recurrence of maltreatment showed that socioeconomic contextual factors were significantly associated with performance across CFSR-3 SDWIs and that they impacted performance for Black and White children in different ways. For White children, higher state public welfare expenditures and county-level mobility were associated with better outcomes. Higher percentages of White children living in poverty was associated with worse outcomes. For Black children, higher rates of public welfare receipt among female-headed households, Black owner-occupied housing, and lower rates of unemployment were associated with better outcomes. In some instances, results showed that placement settings and other individual level factors had a greater effect on performance and that they tended to contribute to larger increases in gaps between White and Black children. In this presentation, we discuss these findings and how they inform what we know about complex social problems and the intersection between the context of service delivery and efforts to improve federal outcomes for child welfare involved families. We will also share insights into how measures designed to monitor policy adherence are likely masking effective surveillance efforts to understand the outcomes of individual children in the child welfare system.