Category: Data Center Research

All states aim to expedite adoption for children who cannot return home safely, but adoption policies vary considerably from state to state. In this new research brief, we examine whether certain types of state adoption policy are associated with faster rates of adoption.... Read more >

This new research brief illustrates how reliance on group care placement differs throughout the country and how indiviudal and county characteristics interact to influence a child's likelihood of being placed in a group setting.... Read more >

In this new research brief we describe how the Data Center used advanced analytics to level the playing field and examine how permanency outcomes differ inside Wisconsin's private foster care provider network.... Read more >

In 2013, the Data Center collaborated on a project examining patterns of healthcare needs and Medicaid expenditures for children in foster care in New York State. Read more about the findings and their implications for the state's transition from a fee-for-service health care system to managed care. ... Read more >

Integrating data across human service agencies involves two main types of activities—capacity building and evidence use. This webinar will highlight perspectives from a variety of stakeholders on data integration practices in and across human service agencies.... Read more >

Infants are placed in foster care at a higher rate than children of all other ages. Nationally, infants make up approximately 22% of children entering foster care and, once in care, stay in care longer than older children. Given infants’ sizeable representation in the system, they warrant particular attention as child welfare agencies develop and implement policies and practices. This post summarizes a presentation recently delivered by Fred Wulczyn and Zach Martinez at Harvard University’s Center for the Developing Child. The presentation describes from a risk perspective how infants represent a unique sub-population of children involved in the child welfare system. By bringing infants’ particular characteristics and experiences to the fore—e.g., the circumstances under which they come into contact with the child welfare system, their specific risk factors, and their trajectories toward permanency—the findings provide valuable information that can guide state efforts to improve infant well-being. To view the presentation… Read more >

In May 2011, Chapin Hall researchers released a study that used FCDA data to produce an epidemiological and developmental snapshot of infants in foster care. The research showed that infants are a growing proportion of first-time admissions to foster care. It also showed that infants experience foster care differently from children who enter care at older ages. For example, children who enter care as infants spend a longer amount of time in foster care; are more likely to exit to adoption; and are particularly vulnerable to developmental risk factors such as physical neglect, poor health, caregiver substance abuse, and others. Meeting the needs of infants in foster care requires developmentally appropriate interventions delivered in the right dose. This Recipe is the first in a 4-part series that uses the web tool to explore infants’ experience in care and how to target opportunities for improving their outcomes. Here, in Part 1,… Read more >