Parenting Engagement in Foster Care Placement Stability and Permanency

Abstract

Objective: Child welfare services predominately engage mothers, who typically are the primary caregivers of the children. Research on engaging fathers—or fathers and mothers together—in child welfare is limited. This study evaluates engagement of both mothers and fathers in case management services for out-of-home child welfare cases to better understand patterns and quality of parental engagement and the effect of engagement on permanency and stability. Method: We analyzed state case-review data collected by certified reviewers from 2007 to 2017 (N = 1,617) on out-of-home child welfare cases. Data included evaluation of the processes and outcomes of case management services. Using ordinary least squares regression and seemingly unrelated regression, we examined the relationship between parent engagement and permanency and stability outcomes. Results: Permanency and placement stability ratings are relatively poorer when fathers and mothers engage together in case planning. However, the quality of engagement with fathers and mothers is associated with improved permanency and placement stability ratings. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for high-quality engagement with fathers and mothers for positive foster care child outcomes. Future research may assess worker training for boosting outcomes of family engagement in child welfare.