Objectives It is widely considered that outcomes for children in care are generally poor. Research has pointed to poor education outcomes, high rates of mental health problems, disproportionate involvement in substance abuse... [ view full abstract ]
Objectives
It is widely considered that outcomes for children in care are generally poor. Research has pointed to poor education outcomes, high rates of mental health problems, disproportionate involvement in substance abuse and crime and the over-representation of care leavers among the unemployed, homeless and prison populations. However, most studies to date have found it hard to disentangle the effects of being in care from the impact of the experiences (in most cases, abuse or neglect) that led to children’s admission. As a result, key questions remain unanswered.
• Does being in care compensate children for previous disadvantage and improve their wellbeing, from a frequently low starting point?
• Or does it instead compound the disadvantages they bring with them into care?
• In other words, do children who enter care do better or worse than children with similar backgrounds and histories who remain at home?
This aim of this study is therefore to investigate:
(i) whether outcomes for maltreated children who are admitted to care are better or worse than those for similar children who remain at home, monitored and supported by social workers;
(ii) which maltreated children, in which circumstances, are most likely to benefit from admission to care or, alternatively, from remaining at home?
Design and methods
This comparative, longitudinal study drew on data from local administrative databases to identify a large sample of children who experienced abuse or neglect (n=390) by the age of seven years. Children who were admitted to foster care due to maltreatment (the care group) were compared to a sample of maltreated children who were monitored and supported by social workers (on a ‘child protection plan’) and who were never admitted to care (the home group). Outcome data were collected in interviews with parents (of the home group) or foster carers (of the care group). These included questions on the children’s progress and development and explored their current circumstances at home or in care. In addition, survey questionnaires to social workers collected data on the children’s histories, family circumstances and the reasons for intervention and included a standardised measure of the nature, severity and timing of the maltreatment the children had experienced (the Modified Maltreatment Classification System, or MMCS).
Results and conclusion
This new study (which ends in March 2016) goes beyond most previous studies of outcomes for children in out of home placement, as it compares outcomes for maltreated children in foster care to those for other maltreated children, rather than to the wider population of children. This presentation will compare the health, mental health, attachment and educational progress of the two groups of maltreated children, taking the type, combination, severity and timing of maltreatment (as measured by the MMCS) into account. It will provide important new evidence on the way the care system mediates the impact of maltreatment on young children, for better or worse, providing a clearer insight into the contribution of foster care to outcomes for young children who have been maltreated. These findings will have important implications for policy and practice.
