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Foster Care in a Life Course Perspective

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  • Fred Wulczyn

Abstract

To understand what placement outside of one’s home means to the young people involved, we must understand foster care from a life course perspective. I analyze young people’s experiences in foster care from this perspective, accounting for when foster care happens, how long it lasts, and what happens when foster care placements end. I show that the population of children coming into foster care is younger and less urban than it was 20 years ago. I also show reliable measures of exposure to foster care over the life course. Children who enter care early in life are the children who spend the largest proportion of their childhood in foster care—a fact that rarely weighs on the policymaking process. We know very little about state and local variation in foster care placement rates, not to mention the influence of social services, the courts, foster parents, and caseworkers over foster children, so I close by arguing investment in research should be a clear policy priority.

Suggested Citation

  • Fred Wulczyn, 2020. "Foster Care in a Life Course Perspective," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 692(1), pages 227-252, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:692:y:2020:i:1:p:227-252
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716220976535
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ron Haskins, 2020. "Child Welfare Financing: What Do We Fund, How, and What Could Be Improved?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 692(1), pages 50-67, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lawrence M. Berger & Brenda Jones Harden, 2025. "Black–White differences in Child Protective Services involvement: Evidence on the role of differential ‘risk’," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 682-692, March.
    2. Forsman, Hilma & Brännström, Lars, 2025. "Infant placements in foster care and labor market attachment: A national cohort study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Jones, Dylan & Ahn, Eunhye & McCoy, Henrika & Drake, Brett & Jonson-Reid, Melissa, 2025. "Trajectories of ILS receipt and subsequent dual-system involvement: Examining the role of out-of-home placement type," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

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