The relative safety of paternal,maternal, and traditional foster care placements |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Social Work, East Tennessee State University, 203 Lyle House, Johnson City, TN 37614, United States;2. School of Social Work, University of Tennessee, Henson Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States;1. Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 2400 E. Hartford Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211, United States;2. Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois–Chicago, 1040 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607, United States;3. Department of Sociology, University of Illinois–Chicago, 1007 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607, United States;1. School of Social Work, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA;2. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;3. School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA;1. Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, Library Road, Brighton BN1 9RE, United Kingdom;2. Family for Every Child, United Kingdom;3. Institute of Development Studies (IDS), United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | When children are placed into foster care the caseworker must give preference to an adult relative, many of whom are grandparents, over an unrelated caregiver. This kinship preference is based in evolutionary biology, which suggests that the imperative to care for a child should be greater for kin versus non-kin. However, not all kin are related to a child in the same way, and level of paternity uncertainty may influence level of care provided. For instance, maternal grandparents can be assured that they share genetic material with their grandchild, while paternal grandparents may not have the same level of certainty. Owing to the possibility of paternity uncertainty, we hypothesize that out-of-home placements with paternal grandparents will be at a greater risk of subsequent investigations than placements with maternal grandparents or with foster parents. We secured data on placements n = 560 of children ages 1.5 to 17 following a maltreatment investigation from a merger of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being NSCAW II and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System NCANDS. Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression were used to examine the difference in time to the first new investigation by type of out-of-home placement while controlling for covariates. Consistent with our hypothesis, placements with paternal grandparents were at a higher risk of a subsequent investigations than placements with maternal grandparents or non-kin foster parents. Results suggest a need for further considerations of child safety in foster care based on genetic relatedness of caregivers. |
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| Keywords: | Safety Kinship care Child welfare |
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