Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/EricaHZielewski

This study follows-up on a prior study of child welfare agencies' efforts to identify, locate, and involve nonresident fathers of children in foster care. These analyses use information from the original survey and administrative data on case outcomes to explore three research questions: (1) Is nonresident father involvement associated with case length? (2) Is nonresident father involvement associated with foster care discharge outcomes? and (3) Is nonresident father involvement associated with subsequent child maltreatment allegations? The study finds that having an involved father is associated with shorter case length and a greater likelihood of reunification. Future research is needed to better understand the nature of nonresident fathers' involvement.

This exploratory study, conducted in Washington, D.C. and New York City, sought to examine foster youths' views of adoption, permanency, and adoption recruitment. Using data collected from focus groups with foster youth, ages 11 to 19, the study raised three important findings: (1) foster care experiences influence youths' perceptions of adoption; (2) youth have concerns and fears about adoption; and (3) youth expect autonomy and want to feel empowered. The study's findings suggest that child welfare agencies and caseworkers may have more to do in terms of educating youth about adoption and other permanency options.

This study, conducted in an urban and rural county in two states, Oklahoma and Kentucky, sought to provide a detailed description of how families do or do not connect to services in alternative response system in the two study states. Using data collected from interviews and focus groups with child welfare agency staff, community service providers, and families, the study identified six factors that affect how families connect to needed services, including service network infrastructure, relationships between providers, and service availability, and offered implications as to how these findings could be applied to policy and practice.

This study, commissioned by the National Adoption Day Coalition, provides a first look at legislation specifically related to the adoption of children from foster care introduced in the 50 state legislatures and the District of Columbia between 2002 and 2006. Using data from various legislative databases, the study found that state legislatures are active in the area of foster care adoption, but that legislation may not adequately address known barriers to adoption. The study also looked at several bills to understand the legislative process surrounding adoption and considered how legislation supports families after they adopt children from foster care.

This report marks the fifth time the Urban Institute has collected data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding child welfare spending. States spent at least $23.3 billion on child welfare activities in state fiscal year (SFY) 2004, with the increase in total spending between SFYs 2002 and 2004 driven by increases in state and local spending. Our findings highlight why we see such variation in states' financing strategies. Reasons include the availability and use of various nondedicated funding sources, how states use various funding sources, legal or political factors, and how the child welfare agency budget fits into the "big picture" of states' overall financing strategies.

This exploratory study considered how local jurisdictions in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area address the issue of children caring for themselves in a "self care" child care arrangement and whether some of these situations overlap with child protective services cases. Researchers conducted focus groups and interviews with child welfare staff and law enforcement officials. Reports of suspected child neglect, specifically reports involving inadequate supervision, were also analyzed. Deciding to leave children home alone is a universal decision that all parents must make. Study findings indicate that how localities respond to reports of inadequate supervision vary by the type of cases accepted, response to these cases, factors considered during the investigation, and how the agency serves the families.

Commissioned by the National Adoption Day Coalition, this report provides a first-time look at foster care adoption recruitment in the United States. Using data from the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the state Child and Family Services Reviews, the report describes women's interest in adoption and strategies to find adoptive families for foster children. Findings indicate an overall increase in women interested in adoption, perhaps due to extensive recruitment efforts in recent years. At the same time, women interested in adopting were less likely to take steps to adopt in 2002 than they were in 1995.

This report marks the fourth time the Urban Institute has collected data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding child welfare spending. Our findings highlight the differences in states' spending patterns and the interaction between federal, state, and local dollars in financing child welfare activities--issues that should be considered during policy and budget debates at the state and national levels. States spent at least $22 billion on child welfare activities in state fiscal year (SFY) 2002, with increases between SFY 2000 and SFY 2002 coming from all levels of government. A rise in TANF and Medicaid spending accounted for nearly all the federal growth. [View the corresponding press release]

This report, commissioned by The National Adoption Day Coalition, provides a national analysis of adoption information collected from the congressionally mandated Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report offers a national compilation, as well state-by-state assessments, of barriers and promising approaches states report at different stages in the adoption process. The stages where most states report barriers include terminating parental rights, recruiting adoptive homes, court case management, child welfare case management, and establishing and changing permanency goals.

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