Transitions from and Returns to Out-of-Home Care

Abstract

This longitudinal study employs bivariate probit regression analysis to examine factors associated with returns home from, and reentry to, out-of-home care for 21,484 children placed by child welfare authorities in California. A central focus of the study is to determine the degree to which phenomena unaccounted for in analyses of the returns home from care are correlated with factors unaccounted for in analyses of the process of reentry to care. Although a previous analysis implies direct effects of race and age on foster care reentry, current results suggest that these effects are mediated by other factors. A second concern of the study led to the finding that Aid to Families with Dependent Children eligibility is associated with delays in the return home of children initially placed in kinship foster care.