WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Children require consistency, predictability and attachment to caring adults in order to thrive. This is especially true for children in foster care, who may have experienced trauma before their foster placement.

Foster care is associated with physical, mental and emotional health issues, including:

• Academic difficulties.
• Attachment issues, separation anxiety and distrust of others.
• Chronic unemployment.
• Low self-esteem and self-efficacy. 
• Decreased inclusion in positive social networks. 
• Substance use and risky sexual behaviors.

WHO IS AFFECTED?

Children at risk of increased foster care instability include:

• Older children compared with younger children. 
• Children with clinical diagnoses of emotional disturbance; additional medical diagnoses increase the risk.
• Children who are in the foster care system for longer periods of time.

GOALS

Healthy People 2030 has a goal to increase the proportion of adolescents in foster care who show signs of being ready for adulthood.

Source(s):https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/Foster_Stability/IN Last accessed March 2024.

https://www.in.gov/dcs/files/PI_CHINS_Placements_3-22.pdf   Last accessed March 2024.

Strategies to improve foster care stability include:

• Using assessment and decision-making tools to match children and foster families. The Every Child a Priority (ECAP) algorithm-based matching system has yielded strong positive results in placement stability.
• Addressing children’s emotional and behavioral health needs. 
• Promoting caseworker retention and ongoing education, including training on attachment theory and other factors that impact the stability of foster care. 
• Prioritizing placement of children with relatives.

Source(s): https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/Foster_Stability/IN Last accessed March 2024.

Foster care caseloads, an indicator of child maltreatment, are increasing. Children living in poverty are significantly more likely to be reported to the child welfare system and are overrepresented in foster care. Thus, it is critical to identify prevention strategies that can stem the flow of foster care entries, particularly among populations at higher risk. 

States are trying to reduce the number of children in foster care, and for this reason, many have focused on prevention measures. This was the idea behind the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). 

Balancing the needs and rights of children and families can be a bit more complicated. For example, the FFPSA was meant to generate more supportive mechanisms that would stabilize at-risk families and prevent them from being separated. But there are concerns that this could also intrude on parental rights; stabilizing families would require regular check-ups, raising the question of how much surveillance of families is too much, and where the goal of protecting children crosses a privacy line.

Source(s): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377953/ Last accesed March 2024

https://www.thepolicycircle.org/brief/the-failures-and-future-of-the-u-s-foster-care-system/ Last accesed March 2024

In 2018, Gov. Eric Holcomb requested an independent audit of the Department of Children Services. And that led to a 2019 law to provide more support of in-home placement for children, efforts to address the turnover rate for family case managers and other changes.

The 2018 Federal Family First Prevention Services Act, provided more funding toward mental health services, substance abuse support and other services.

Policies can be powerful tools in shaping the conditions for families raising children, with potential for broader reach than efforts solely focused on individual families and children (Putnam & Galea, 2008). Socioeconomic policies, like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), that strengthen economic security may improve parents’ ability to meet children’s basic needs (Fortson et al., 2016). Increasing household income may also reduce parental stress and engagement in coping strategies that compromise children’s safety (i.e., substance abuse), thereby reducing the risk of child abuse and neglect and other adversity that may warrant children’s removal from the home (Waldfogel, 2004). 

Source(s): https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-kids-foster-care-racial-disparities Last accessed March 2024.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377953/#:~:text=Increasing%20household%20income%20may%20also,home%20(Waldfogel%2C%202004).  Last accessed March 2024.

https://www.in.gov/dcs/data/ (Total children in need of services dashboard) Last accessed 10/9/2024

https://www.in.gov/dcs/data/   (Total children in need of services dashboard) Last accessed 05/10/2023; 5/1/2024

https://www.in.gov/dcs/reports-and-statistics/practice-indicator-reports/

https://www.in.gov/dcs/files/PI_CHINS_Placements_3-22.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7377953/#:~:text=Increasing%20household%20income%20may%20also,home%20(Waldfogel%2C%202004).