abstract: ABSTRACT Many foster children experience numerous placements while in out-of-home care; some up to fifteen in an 18 month period (Newton, Litrownik, & Landsverk, 2000). Placement stability is important for children to find permanent families, and for social, emotional and educational development of children. This study used the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) data set to examine foster child and caregiver characteristics, and the caregiver-child relationship as a predictor of placement stability in the long term foster care general sample. Logistic regression was performed with the Complex Samples add-on to appropriately weight the NSCAW sampling. Children who were placed in foster homes or kinship homes and who had not been returned home at the Wave 3 interview were included in the study. The sample consisting of 562 children was divided into three groups based on age: Early Group 1, childhood ages 1to 5, group 1;Group 2, Middle childhood ages 6 to 10, group 2; Group 3, Adolescence ages 11 to 18, group 3. Results are consistent with previous studies in that children in early childhood and middle childhood who were placed in foster homes were 83% and 87% less likely to achieve placement stability than children in kinship homes, respectively. In early childhood, each additional household member reduced the odds of achieving placement stability by 35%.The caregiver-child relationship did not predict placement stability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Social Work 2011

This dissertation consists of two studies designed to broaden our understanding of the impact of complex trauma on symptom profiles and outcomes of children in the child welfare system through the lenses of gender, development, and placement permanency. Data for both were obtained using the Child and Adolescent Strengths and Needs Comprehensive Assessment tool (CANS; Lyons, Gawron, & Kisiel, 2005) for youth ages 6 -17 years involved in the child welfare system. In Study 1, I examined symptom profiles of 3,446 youth to determine the ability of gender, age, ethnicity, trauma type, and other adversity variables to predict the following CANS domains: posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), emotional/ behavioral needs, risk behaviors, life domain functioning, and child strengths. Findings supported the hypothesis that males and females would exhibit a similar number and severity of PTSS subsequent to exposure to maltreatment, including complex trauma. Unique gender-specific developmental profiles of trauma exposure and symptomatology emerged. I concluded that the complex and dynamic interactions among gender, age, trauma experience, and psychosocial functioning are more complicated than can be elucidated in main effect or two-way interactions. It is therefore recommended that trauma researchers disaggregate analyses by gender in trauma research because the dynamics of trauma are different for males and females. In Study 2, I employed survival analyses to examine the ability of child characteristics, complex trauma exposure, and placement-related variables to predict placement disruption in a sample of 4,822 youth at high-risk for placement disruption. Older age, female gender, higher levels of externalizing behavior, and more prior placements increased risk for placement disruption, whereas longer time in care and type of out-of-home placement decreased risk for placement disruption in the sample. It is recommended that placement stability be directly targeted for those at higher risk through provision of intensive support to youth and their foster caregivers. Caseworkers should receive training about those subgroups most at-risk for placement disruption. Externalizing behavior and attachment, but not PTSS, mediated the relation between complex trauma and placement disruption. Intervention for youth with a history of complex trauma should focus on both attachment and externalizing behaviors.

Familjehemsvård är den vanligaste placeringsformen i Sverige för barn som inte kan bo med sin familj. När sammanbrott sker berörs de närmast involverade. Syftet var att genom en allmän litteraturöversikt undersöka familjehemsföräldrars perspektiv på sammanbrott i familjehemsvård. 10 vetenskapliga artiklar låg till grund för resultatet som analyserades med hjälp av sorg- och kristeori samt salutogenetiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visade att sammanbrott väcker olika känslor som sorg, förlust, lättnad och ångest. Familjehemsföräldrar kände sig misslyckade och upplevde sig ha svikit barnet. Dessa känslor kunde även leda till en identitetskris hos familjehemsföräldrarna. Vidare uppmärksammades att relationen till, och kommunikationen med, socialtjänsten påverkade upplevelsen av sammanbrott. Brister i samverkan med socialtjänsten kunde negativt påverka stödet till familjehemsföräldrarna. / In Sweden, family foster care is the most common form of placement for children who cannot live with their families. Disruptions in placements can occur and affect those most immediately involved. The purpose of this literature review was to explore foster parents’ perspectives on placement breakdown. The result was based on 10 scientific articles that were analyzed through bereavement theory and salutogenic perspective. Results show that placement disruption awakens emotions such as sorrow, loss, relief and anxiety. Foster parents’ experienced failure and felt that they had betrayed the child. These feelings could also lead to an identity crisis for the foster parents. Further observations indicated that the relationship to, and communication with, social services affected foster parents’ perceptions of disruption. The shortcomings in collaboration with social services could influence the support offered to foster parents in a negative way.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Awaiting adoption is a social problem in America that affects thousands of children as well as families, agencies, communities, the mission of the child welfare system, and society at large. In 2014, over 101,000 children were awaiting adoption in the United States. On average, waiting children have been in out-of-home care for approximately three years. One phenomenon that plagues waiting children and their opportunity for adoption is the disruption of their pre-adoptive placements or the change in a waiting child's placement prior to a finalized adoption. Despite unique placement and permanency needs, waiting children and their foster parents are seldom recognized as unique cohorts. Thus, little is known about the experience of pre-adoptive placement disruption. The status of waiting children, foster care and adoption history and policy, and literature and theory relevant to pre-adoptive placement disruption are discussed. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis were used to investigate the research question: What is the experience of pre-adoptive placement disruption for pre-adoptive foster parents? Eleven foster parents participated in nine interviews. Participants were licensed through public or private child welfare agencies. The majority of participants were married, Caucasian, and had adopted from foster care. Important findings emerged from the experiences participants shared. Pre-adoptive placement disruption is characterized by "compound loss" including both the loss of the child and the loss of purpose. Participants experienced the disruption like a broken social contract and attributed the disruption to the child welfare system or the children's perpetrators. Disruption experiences resulted in lasting effects including changes to the profiles of the children participants would foster or adopt in the future, pre-adoptive status, and advocacy efforts. Resolve emerged as a critical factor for participants to approach foster and pre-adoptive care in new ways. Vulnerability, isolation, and ambivalence emerged as essential elements of living through disruption. Findings suggest the importance of assessing pre-adoptive parents' motivations and expectations, validating their experiences, acknowledging their losses, and practicing with transparency and competency. Implications exist for child welfare and social work practice and education. Additional research is needed regarding barriers and supports of adoption from foster care.