ABSTRACT

Foster care placements are a temporary solution for children who are unable to live safely with their families primarily due to reasons of child abuse or neglect. The preferred permanency option for children in care is a return to their parent(s) or primary caregiver(s). Trial home visits (the placement of a child in the home from where they were removed while the state maintains custody) could assist in ensuring that reunifications are successful and reducing reentries. An entry cohort of 4,101 children who entered care between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2016 and left care to reunification within 2 years of entry were administratively followed for 18 months post-reunification to examine whether they would experience another entry into the foster care system (n = 806; 19.7%). Trial home visits were found to be protective, but there was a moderating effect of family size (siblings in care); for children without siblings in care, a trial home visit reduced the odds of reentries (OR = 0.43). Trial home visits need to be examined more completely to understand their protective role in maintaining children and families in their homes post-permanency.

摘要

对于主要由于虐待或忽视儿童的原因而无法与家人安全生活的儿童，寄养儿童安置是一个临时解决方案。受照料儿童的首选永久性选择是重返其父母或主要照料者。试探性的家访（将孩子安置在国家维持监护的状态下从家中移出）可以帮助确保统一成功并减少再次入境。在2011年7月1日至2016年6月30日期间接受照料并在照料后2年内重新照料的4101名儿童进入队列，在回归后进行了18个月的行政随访，以检查他们是否会再次接受寄养系统（ñ= 806; 19.7％）。发现进行家访试验是有保护作用的，但家庭规模（照料兄弟姐妹）的影响适中。对于没有兄弟姐妹照料的孩子，进行一次家访就可以减少再次进入的机会（OR = 0.43）。需要对家庭访视进行更彻底的检查，以了解他们在永久性维持儿童和家庭在家中的保护作用。