State contexts and foster care adoption rates

Abstract

Prior research has examined associations between state adoption policies and assisted reproductive technology insurance coverage and foster care adoption rates, but knowledge of the relationships between state policies and contexts and foster care adoption is still limited. In this study, we test adoption subsidy policy, alternative means of family formation, and the demographic characteristics of potential adoptive parents and children as predictors of foster care adoption rates at the state-year level using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System and other sources for 2005 to 2016. We use between-within models to obtain random effects estimates between states and fixed effects estimates within states. We find that states with higher average adoption subsidies have lower foster care adoption rates. Foster parent rates, international adoption rates, and mandated in vitro fertilization insurance coverage are positively associated with foster care adoption. States with higher median household incomes and more same-sex couples have higher foster care adoption rates, but states with more women of childbearing age have lower rates of older child adoption. These findings suggest some ways states may seek to increase adoptions from foster care.