PolicyLab announces our first Evidence to Action brief. Evidence to Action briefs highlight our research areas in the context of local and national policy issues to advance child health and well-being.
PolicyLab's Fall 2009 Evidence to Action brief, Securing Child Safety, Well-Being, and Permanency Through Placement Stability in Foster Care, presents Year 1 findings from the Children's Stability and Well-Being Study (CSAW). CSAW is a longitudinal evaluation of 450 children in the Philadelphia child welfare system. This brief examines the issue of placement stability and identifies areas for federal and state policy interventions to improve outcomes for children in child welfare and their families.
Executive Summary
Placement instability is harming children in foster care. Nationally, two-thirds of children who are in foster care for more than a year experience three or more placements. While placement stability is often considered a well-being issue, it also raises safety concerns, especially in the context of rapid placement moves. Aside from the problems experienced before entering out-of home care, placement instability increases the risk of poor health, educational, and social-emotional outcomes. The recently enacted Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act requires states to enhance efforts to find permanent homes for children and ensure fewer disruptions in medical care and schooling. States will not be able to meet the stability requirements stipulated in Fostering Connections and secure better outcomes for children unless policies and practices to promote placement stability are strengthened. This Evidence to Action brief reports Year 1 findings from the Children's Stability and Well-Being Study (CSAW) at PolicyLab. CSAW is tracking, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, 450 children in the Philadelphia child welfare system to identify intervention opportunities that may improve placement stability and thereby improve outcomes for children.
