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Foster children in care due to parental incarceration: A national longitudinal study

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  • Morrison, Maria
  • Drake, Brett

Abstract

Using national child welfare data, we created a longitudinal data set (N = 142,143) to examine a subset of foster children (7%) who entered care due to parental incarceration (PI). Spanning FY 2005–2017, the dataset allowed us to compare children who entered care due to PI to children entering for other reasons. We found children of incarcerated parents were younger (median age of 4 vs. 6), more often White (47% vs. 42%), and less often Black (15% vs. 20%) when compared to other foster children. Parental use of alcohol (12% v. 6%) and drugs (42% v. 26%) were both more common among children who entered due to PI compared to those who entered for other reasons. Our understanding of this population is limited by inadequate data collection procedures that fail to account for societal changes created by mass incarceration. Our data indicate that investments in substance use treatment could decrease the number of children entering care.

Suggested Citation

  • Morrison, Maria & Drake, Brett, 2023. "Foster children in care due to parental incarceration: A national longitudinal study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:144:y:2023:i:c:s0190740922003449
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106708
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Putnam-Hornstein, Emily & Needell, Barbara, 2011. "Predictors of child protective service contact between birth and age five: An examination of California's 2002 birth cohort," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1337-1344, August.
    2. Drake, Brett & Lee, Sang Moo & Jonson-Reid, Melissa, 2009. "Race and child maltreatment reporting: Are Blacks overrepresented?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 309-316, March.
    3. Lawrence M. Berger & Maria Cancian & Laura Cuesta & Jennifer L. Noyes, 2016. "Families at the Intersection of the Criminal Justice and Child Protective Services Systems," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 171-194, May.
    4. Kim, H. & Wildeman, C. & Jonson-Reid, M. & Drake, B., 2017. "Lifetime prevalence of investigating child maltreatment among US children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(2), pages 274-280.
    5. Putnam-Hornstein, Emily & Needell, Barbara, 2011. "Predictors of child protective service contact between birth and age five: An examination of California's 2002 birth cohort," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2400-2407.
    6. Christopher Swann & Michelle Sylvester, 2006. "The foster care crisis: What caused caseloads to grow," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 309-335, May.
    7. Christopher Wildeman, 2009. "Parental imprisonment, the prison boom, and the concentration of childhood disadvantage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(2), pages 265-280, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zina T. McGee, 2023. "Developmental Outcomes among Children within the Context of Maternal Incarceration: Findings from a Study of Family Inequality," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, December.

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