Predicting Family Reunification, Adoption, and Subsidized Guardianship Among Adolescents in Foster Care

Although national legislation has attempted to decrease the length of time that children spend in foster care, these policies have been less effective with adolescents than with children, raising questions about how best to promote permanency for adolescents. This study examined factors that predict adolescent adoption, subsidized guardianship, and reunification. The caseworkers and foster parents of 203 randomly selected 12- to 13-year-olds placed in traditional or specialized foster care were interviewed. Permanency outcomes were prospectively tracked for 8 years. By the end of the study, over 40% of the adolescents were placed in permanent homes. As hypothesized, a strong relationship with a biological mother predicted successful reunification, and a high degree of integration into a foster home predicted adoption. Additionally, when compared with adoption, subsidized guardianship with foster parents occurred more frequently for youth with strong relationships with their biological mothers and weaker relationships with their foster families. Unexpectedly, behavior problems were not related to any permanency outcomes. Results suggest that promotion of strong relationships with adults is the key in efforts to find permanent families for foster children. Furthermore, efforts to attain permanency should not cease during adolescence.