Correlates of entry into congregate care among a cohort of California foster youth

Congregate care settings are to be used as a last resort for the placement of abused and neglected children. In the current study we identify specific child protective service experiences and mental and behavioral health characteristics that are predictive of moving from a family based foster placement to a congregate care placement. Administrative child protective service (CPS) records were used to define a population-based cohort of youth aged 12-14 years who entered into a family-based setting in California in 2012. These youth were then longitudinally followed through the duration of their placement episode to determine the proportion of youth who entered into congregate care. A Cox Proportional Hazard model was used to model correlates of transitions from the initial family-based setting into a congregate care setting. Approximately 17% of youth who started a placement in a family-based setting entered congregate care prior to the end of their foster care episode. Results from the Cox Proportional Hazard analysis found that older age, Black ethnicity/race, emotional health concerns, behavioral problems, ADHD/ADD and a history of psychiatric hospitalizations were predictive of movement into a congregate care placement. Results also indicate that youth who started their foster care episode in a non-kin placement moved into congregate care at 1.7 times the rate of youth who started their episode in a kin placement. Recent federal and state policy changes have decreased the availability of congregate care placements. Data from the current study highlight the importance of investments that (1) increase the number foster parents willing and trained to foster high risk adolescents, and (2) develop evidence-informed interventions to treat foster youth and support their foster families in an effort to maintain placement in lower levels of care.