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Report to Congress on Adoption and Other Permanency Outcomes for Children in
Foster Care: Focus on Older Children
In recent years, increasing national attention has been focused on the need to find adoptive homes for children in foster care. The Adoption Promotion Act (the Act), passed in 2003, supported these efforts by reauthorizing the Adoption Incentive Program, a key outcome-focused tool for promoting adoption, and also introduced a special focus on the need to find adoptive homes for children ages 9 and older.
Congress included in the Act a requirement for a report that presents the strategies and promising approaches being undertaken to achieve permanency outcomes for children in foster care. In keeping with the legislative requirement, this report addresses not only adoption, but also the achievement of other permanency outcomes for children, with a special focus on older children. The challenges faced in attempts to achieve these outcomes are summarized, along with strategies for addressing these challenges. Many examples of Federal leadership are presented, as are State and foundation-led initiatives. The report concludes with a summary of the progress that has been made in addressing these issues and the strategies that show promise of improving outcomes for children in foster care.
1. Background 1
Children enter foster care when they are unable to live safely with their families, usually due to abuse or neglect in the family home. At the end of fiscal year (FY) 2003, there were 523,000 children in foster care, a reduction from the high of 567,000 children at the end of FY 1999. While there are fewer children in care, a higher proportion of them are ages 9 and older (58 percent, up from 53 percent in FY 1998). As a result of the abuse and neglect they have experienced, many of these children face significant challenges, including physical and mental health problems, developmental delays, educational difficulties, and psychological and behavioral problems (Freundlich & Wright, 2003). In FY 2003, a little more than one-quarter (27 percent) of the children in foster care had a diagnosed disability.2
Foster care is meant to be temporary, and a permanency or case plan must be established for each child in foster care, stating a goal for a permanent living arrangement upon the child's exit from care. Nearly all children begin with the goal of being reunified with their families; when this is not possible, other permanent living arrangements are sought, such as living with another relative, guardianship, or adoption. However, some children, particularly older children, have plans established for them that do not include a goal of leaving foster care and transitioning into the home of a permanent family. Instead, they are prepared to be emancipated from foster care into adulthood on their own. Still others simply have goals of long-term foster care or do not have permanency goals established.
Youth who are emancipated 3 from foster care without a permanent family are at high risk for many poor outcomes. One longitudinal study of youth aging out of foster care found numerous challenges as these youth were transitioning to adulthood (Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, & Nesmith, 2001). One in five (22 percent) had lived in four or more places within 18 months of discharge from care; more than one-third (37 percent) had been physically or sexually victimized, incarcerated, or homeless during that time period; and these youth had considerably more mental health challenges than others in the same age group. In addition, more than one-third (37 percent) had not completed high school, and only 61 percent were employed after 18 months, earning a median wage of $4.60 per hour (Courtney et al.).
| A former foster youth who emancipated from foster care was filling out a job application. He was asked to provide an emergency contact person. "He wrote 911. He had no one else." (Holtan, 2004, p. 35). |
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Transitioning to adulthood is a challenging stage for all youth. But youth in foster care often have already lost parents, siblings, familiar neighborhoods, and schools. They often have moved frequently and have not developed the kinds of supportive, committed relationships that could sustain them during difficult times. While helping these youth develop supportive relationships is crucial, helping them find permanent families provides the greatest opportunities for lifelong support.
For the purposes of this report, therefore, permanency is defined as a legal, permanent family living arrangement, that is, reunification with the birth family, living with relatives, guardianship, or adoption. The goal of emancipation is not included in this definition of permanency because it does not provide for a legal permanent family for the child (although the child may have a long-term emotional connection with a family). At the end of FY 2003, 24 percent of all children in foster care, including 33 percent of children ages 9 and older, did not have case plans that included permanency goals for living with a family. While this represents some progress for older children (at the end of FY 1998, 43 percent of older children did not have permanent family goals), it still leaves too many youth at risk of aging out of foster care without the support of a permanent family.
Establishing a permanency goal is an important first step, but child welfare systems also must act on those goals. Children should transition from foster care to permanent families as quickly as possible to maximize healthy development while maintaining safety. Lengthy stays in foster care and the multiple placements that often result (e.g., moving among foster families or group homes) can have a negative impact on children's mental health and well-being and their ability to make a smooth transition back to their birth families or to new permanent families (Freundlich & Wright, 2003; Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 2002).
Half of all children in foster care at the end of FY 2003 had been in care for at least 18 months; this is a reduction from the median length of stay for children in care at the end of FY 1998 (21 months). Children ages 9 and older stay in foster care longer than younger children, but their median length of stay also decreased, from more than 26 months (26.4) at the end of FY 1998 to less than 25 months (24.6) at the end of FY 2003. While these reductions look promising, another view of the data shows that almost 31 percent of youth ages 9 and older who were in foster care at the end of FY 2003 had been in care for 4 or more years. Four years in foster care can affect a child for a lifetime. While foster care provides a temporary placement for children in need, the instability of foster care over many years does not provide the necessary environment for most children to successfully accomplish developmental tasks, nor does it promote the development of a lifetime support system for children.
With significant Federal leadership, State child welfare agencies have been placing increasing emphasis on achieving adoption outcomes for children in foster care as one strategy to reduce lengths of stay and enhance permanency outcomes. Between FY 1998 and FY 2003, the number of children adopted with public child welfare agency involvement increased from 35,000 to 50,000 children.4 The proportion of children adopted from foster care who were ages 9 or older also has increased, from 28 percent in FY 1998 to 32 percent in FY 2002. However, the proportion of children waiting for adoption5 who were ages 9 or older increased from 39 to 49 percent during this same period. These data may indicate that State child welfare agencies are having some success finding adoptive families for older children and that they are more often considering adoption as a permanency option for older children; however, they also show the need to strengthen efforts to secure adoptive families for thousands of older children still waiting to be adopted.
While the data show that permanency outcomes for children in foster care are moving in the right direction, there still is much to be done. There are fewer children in foster care, but those still in care are getting older, and many face significant mental, emotional, and physical challenges. More children are being adopted from foster care, including more children age 9 and older, but the proportion of children waiting for adoption who are age 9 or older has increased at an even faster pace, and many have been in care far too long. Foster care is an essential safety net for many children, but child welfare systems must continue to address the complex issues involved in achieving family permanency for these children, employing strategies that show promise. All children, including older children and teenagers, need permanent families throughout their lifetimes-someone to tell the news of a new job, someone to call when the car breaks down, someone who always cares.
Notes
1Unless otherwise noted, the data in this section are from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. DHHS) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), including published AFCARS reports online at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#afcars (2000, 2001, and 2005) and special data analyses conducted for this report (U.S. DHHS, 2004c).back
2These disabilities include mental retardation, visual or hearing impairments, physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and other diagnosed conditions that require special care (e.g., HIV-positive or chronic illnesses).back
3Emancipation is the case outcome for youth who exit foster care because they have reached the age of majority.back
4These data include adoptions of children from foster care and adoptions of some children who were not in foster care but received other support from the public child welfare agency (e.g., a child who was not in foster care but received title IV-E adoption subsidy assistance). back
5Children waiting for adoption include those who have a permanency goal of adoption and/or whose parents' rights have been terminated.back
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