Foster care beyond placement: Offending outcomes in emerging adulthood

Abstract

Purpose: Conceptually, foster care placement is an important risk factor for serious and violent offending. Empirically, little is known about the role of foster care placement on offending outcomes in adulthood. Methods: Data from the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study were used to examine whether children and youth in care (CYIC; n = 211) were disproportionately more likely than non-CYIC (n = 153) to (a) show a pattern of chronic offending and (b) engage in more serious forms of crime, both of which were measured from ages 12-23. Results: Dynamic classification tables were used to examine patterns of persistence and desistance between adolescence and emerging adulthood. Controlling for other risk factors, a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that CYIC status increased the odds of chronic offending between adolescence and adulthood. This finding may be gender-specific. Conclusion: Although desistance is expected during the transition between adolescence and emerging adulthood, CYIC showed a disproportionate likelihood of chronic offending. Future research should examine whether CYIC are at a decreased likelihood of experiencing positive psychosocial outcomes in adulthood that traditionally influence desistance at this stage.