NCJ Number
236362
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2011 Pages: 670-679
Date Published
2011
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effects of individual and contextual factors on reentry into out-of-home care among children who were discharged from child protective services in Florida in fiscal year 2004-2005.
Abstract
The study shows that reentry into out-of-home care is associated with both contextual factors and individual characteristics. Specifically, results of multilevel Cox regression analysis revealed that in addition to child characteristics, allocated funding for children served in out-of-home care and the way case management services are provided have an important role in risk for reentry following exit from out-of-home care. The findings suggest that contracted case management services are associated with higher levels of reentry into out-of-home care. There are several possible explanations for this finding. One explanation is that agencies contracting out case-management services do not adequately monitor those services. Another possible explanation is that inadequate communication between the lead agencies and case managers employed by the subcontractors resulted in less effective provision of services to children and their families. Finally, decisionmaking processes and practices used by subcontractors may deviate substantially from what is considered "best practices," resulting in poorer outcomes for children. Future studies should examine how contracting out case management services affect other child outcomes, such as achieving permanency or well-being. The study design involved a multilevel longitudinal analysis of administrative data based on an exit cohort. Two Cox proportional hazards multilevel mixture models were tested. The first model included multiple individual-level predictors and no agency-level predictors. The second model included both levels of predictors. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 47 references