Maltreatment and Families’ Receipt of Services: Associations with Reunification,Kinship Care,and Adoption

Abstract

We examined matched services’ impact on reunification, kinship care, and adoption through secondary data analysis with a sample (extracted from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being) of 1,760 children who experienced foster care and their permanent caregivers. Permanent caregivers included biological parents, step parents, relatives, and adoptive parents. Event history analysis showed (a) reunification was likelier when permanent caregivers received housing and cash assistance, and less likely when they received other services (e.g., employment services, health care services); (b) kinship care was less likely when employment, mental health, or substance abuse services were received; and (c) adoption was less likely when employment, domestic violence, legal, or health care services were received. Maltreatment did not impact permanency significantly. Implications for social work are discussed.