Objective: The literature examining reunification for American Indian children reveals mixed findings regarding racial differences. Studies that isolate the impact of race on reunification while controlling for other covariates are needed, and this study fills that gap. Method: Data are from the long-term foster care sample of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I). We examined a sample (N = 456) of American Indian, African American, and White children ages 2–15 at baseline (M = 7.98 years, SD = 4.17). Using nearest-neighbor propensity score matching, we estimated the effect of race on reunification at 18- and 36-month follow-up. We used logistic regression analyses to explore factors associated with reunification in addition to race. Results: Our findings suggest that reunification rates do not differ based on race after controlling for other factors. American Indian children were statistically no more or less likely to reunify than their White or African American peers. Conclusions: Lower rates of reunification for American Indian children may be better explained by covariates in the propensity score model and regression analyses (e.g., age, emotional–behavioral problems, type of placement) rather than race.

中文翻译：

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美洲印第安儿童在长期寄养中的统一

目的：检查美洲印第安人儿童团聚的文献揭示了关于种族差异的不同发现。需要研究在控制其他协变量的同时隔离种族对统一的影响，这项研究填补了这一空白。方法：数据来自《全国儿童和青少年福祉调查》（NSCAW I）的长期寄养项目。我们在基线时（M = 7.98岁，SD = 4.17）检查了2-15岁的美洲印第安人，非裔美国人和白人儿童的样本（N = 456）。使用最近邻倾向得分匹配，我们在18个月和36个月的随访中估算了种族对统一的影响。我们使用逻辑回归分析来探索种族以外与统一相关的因素。结果：我们的发现表明，在控制其他因素之后，统一率不会因种族而异。据统计，美洲印第安人的儿童与白人或非裔美国人的父母团聚的可能性不大。结论：倾向评分模型和回归分析（例如年龄，情绪-行为问题，安置类型）的协变量而不是种族，可以更好地解释美洲印第安人儿童的团聚率较低。