CD-50958g
Prevalence, Experience, and Characteristics of Children and Youth Who Enter Foster Care Through Voluntary Placement Agreements.
Hill, Katharine.
Journal Article
Copyright
Published: March 2017
Children and Youth Services Review
Vol. 74
, p. 62-70
DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.01.025
Elsevier
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A voluntary foster care placement (sometimes referred to as a voluntary placement agreement) is an agreement, entered into without court involvement, between a state or county child welfare agency and a child's parents to place a child into out-of-home placement. When a child enters foster care through this type of placement, state and federal programs that cover children who enter child welfare due to a court order become the custodians of the voluntarily-placed-child's placement, care, and supervision. In this cross-sectional, exploratory study, data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) was used to examine the characteristics and experiences of children who enter foster care through a voluntary foster care agreement, and to compare them with those of children who enter foster care through a court order. Findings indicate that children who are placed through a voluntary placement agreement differ from children who enter through a court order in their personal characteristics, as well as in their placement settings, length of placement, and manner of discharge from foster care. This study provides a baseline for future research into this area of child welfare practice. (Author abstract)
Keywords:
incidence; foster children; child placement; Voluntary relinquishment; REMOVING CHILD FROM HOME; out of home care; individual characteristics; children with disabilities