Factors Associated with the Reunification of Foster Children with Their Families

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study of the family reunification process for a sample of children placed in foster care in California. A Cox proportional-hazards model was developed to explore the effects of child, family, and system variables on the hazard rate for family reunification. Children initially placed in kinship care were less likely to go home in the first few months than other children. The effects of explanatory variables and interactions between those variables with respect to reunification rates are discussed.