Use of parental disability as a removal reason for children in foster care in the U.S
Sharyn DeZelar and
Elizabeth Lightfoot
Children and Youth Services Review, 2018, vol. 86, issue C, 128-134
Abstract:
This study uses a large administrative dataset, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), to explore how public child welfare agencies in the United States use parental disability in their data collection efforts through examining the use of parental disability as a removal reason. Using data from the 2012 AFCARS foster care file, this study explores how the parental disability removal reason is used and how this removal reason relates to parent and child demographics. The study found that 19% of foster children had parental disability as a removal reason. Children with disabilities and children of certain races had higher odds of having parental disability as a removal reason, as did both younger and older parents. The study also found great variation amongst states in the use of parental disability as a removal. Recommendations for more appropriate collection of parental disability related data are suggested, as basing child welfare decisions on diagnoses versus behavior contradicts guidance jointly put forth by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.
Keywords: Parents with disabilities; Child welfare; Foster care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740917309295
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:128-134
DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.01.027
Access Statistics for this article
Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey
More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().