IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v118y2020ics0190740920308367.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are there indicators for children and adolescents who prematurely end their stays in residential care?

Author

Listed:
  • Rau, Thea
  • Mayer, Sophia
  • Kiesel, Vera
  • Ohlert, Jeannine
  • Fegert, Jörg M.
  • Keller, Ferdinand

Abstract

A significant number of children and adolescents living in residential care facilities in Germany end their stays in such institutions earlier than planned. There is a variety of risk factors for these premature departures. So far, it has not been established whether children and adolescents exhibit observable and measurable signs that would indicate that they intend to end their stay early. The study analyzed data from 680 children and adolescents residing in youth welfare institutions with an eye toward identifying indicators that preceded such unplanned early departures. Approximately 15.6% of those children and adolescents in the study left the residential care facility on their own volition; overall, 46.5% of stays ended earlier than planned. Those children and adolescents who left their respective institutions prematurely rated their quality of life lower in the months before their unplanned departure and also reported less satisfying relationships with their caregivers and peers than other children and adolescents. Additionally, these children and adolescents felt less of a sense of belonging to the care facility, were more dissatisfied with the opportunities for participation and the transparency in the institution than others, and exhibited more mental health issues. These results demonstrate that unplanned early departures from residential care facilities are often preceded by indicators related to social integration and quality of life. The study discusses implications for dealing with such indicators and recommendations for lowering the number of unplanned premature departures from residential care facilities in the youth welfare system.

Suggested Citation

  • Rau, Thea & Mayer, Sophia & Kiesel, Vera & Ohlert, Jeannine & Fegert, Jörg M. & Keller, Ferdinand, 2020. "Are there indicators for children and adolescents who prematurely end their stays in residential care?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:118:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920308367
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105450
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920308367
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105450?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khoo, Evelyn & Skoog, Viktoria & Dalin, Rolf, 2012. "In and out of care. A profile and analysis of children in the out-of-home care system in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 900-907.
    2. Attar-Schwartz, Shalhevet, 2013. "Runaway behavior among adolescents in residential care: The role of personal characteristics, victimization experiences while in care, social climate, and institutional factors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 258-267.
    3. Christiansen, Øivin & Havik, Toril & Anderssen, Norman, 2010. "Arranging stability for children in long-term out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 913-921, July.
    4. McCoy, Henrika & McMillen, J. Curtis & Spitznagel, Edward L., 2008. "Older youth leaving the foster care system: Who, what, when, where, and why?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 735-745, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Kothari, Brianne H. & Miller, Rebecca A., 2023. "Intervention development to improve foster youth mental health by targeting coping self-efficacy and help-seeking," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Tregeagle, Susan & Cox, Elizabeth & Forbes, Catherine & Humphreys, Cathy & O'Neill, Cas, 2011. "Worker time and the cost of stability," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1149-1158, July.
    3. Miller, Elizabeth A. & Paschall, Katherine W. & Azar, Sandra T., 2017. "Latent classes of older foster youth: Prospective associations with outcomes and exits from the foster care system during the transition to adulthood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 495-505.
    4. Rauktis, Mary E. & Fusco, Rachael A. & Cahalane, Helen & Bennett, Ivory Kierston & Reinhart, Shauna M., 2011. ""Try to make it seem like we're regular kids": Youth perceptions of restrictiveness in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1224-1233, July.
    5. Hébert, Sophie T. & Esposito, Tonino & Hélie, Sonia, 2018. "How short-term placements affect placement trajectories: A propensity-weighted analysis of re-entry into care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 117-124.
    6. Havlicek, Judy, 2011. "Lives in motion: A review of former foster youth in the context of their experiences in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1090-1100, July.
    7. Levrouw, Delphine & Devlieghere, Jochen & Vandevelde, Stijn & Roose, Rudi, 2020. "Developing a positive living climate in residential youth care: a qualitative study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    8. Khoo, Evelyn & Skoog, Viktoria & Dalin, Rolf, 2012. "In and out of care. A profile and analysis of children in the out-of-home care system in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 900-907.
    9. Mälarstig, Ida & Tyrberg, Marten J & Lundgren, Tobias & Alfonsson, Sven, 2023. "Experiences of conducting a substance use disorder treatment, A-CRA, in compulsory institutional care for youth – The challenge of promoting openness in a closed, temporary setting," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Best, Jared I., 2019. "Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 220-230.
    11. Wulczyn, Fred, 2020. "Race/ethnicity and running away from foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Brännström, Lars & Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2015. "Risk factors for teenage childbirths among child welfare clients: Findings from Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 44-51.
    13. Sulimani-Aidan, Yafit, 2020. "Challenges in the transition to adulthood of young-adult Arabs who graduated from residential facilities in Israel," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    14. Havlicek, Judy & McMillen, J. Curtis & Fedoravicius, Nicole & McNelly, David & Robinson, Debra, 2012. "Conceptualizing the step-down for foster youth approaching adulthood: Perceptions of service providers, caseworkers, and foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2327-2336.
    15. Águila-Otero, A. & Bravo, A. & Santos, I. & Del Valle, J.F., 2020. "Addressing the most damaged adolescents in the child protection system: An analysis of the profiles of young people in therapeutic residential care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. Courtney, Mark E. & Lee, JoAnn & Perez, Alfred, 2011. "Receipt of help acquiring life skills and predictors of help receipt among current and former foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2442-2451.
    17. Zhang, Yuning & Tanaka, Emiko & Anme, Tokie & Mori, Shigeyuki & Bradley, Robert & Lau, Jennifer Y.F., 2018. "Japanese residential care quality and perceived competency in institutionalized adolescents: A preliminary assessment of the dimensionality of care provision," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 204-212.
    18. Cole, Andrea & Ramirez, Luis Alfredo & Villodas, Melissa R. & Ben-David, Shelly & Munson, Michelle L., 2019. "“I want to rise above it all”: Perceptions of the neighborhood among young adults living in public housing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 63-69.
    19. Refaeli, Tehila & Benbenishty, Rami & Zeira, Anat, 2019. "Predictors of life satisfaction among care leavers: A mixed-method longitudinal study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 146-155.
    20. Blakeslee, Jennifer E., 2015. "Measuring the support networks of transition-age foster youth: Preliminary validation of a social network assessment for research and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 123-134.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:118:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920308367. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.