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Research Methods in Child Welfare Page 10 (26 of 464)
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10
Introduction to Child Welfare Research
If the CPS investigation determines that the child cannot be maintained
in the home, the child is placed into out- of- home care. The third tenet of
child welfare practice is that children should be placed in the least restric-
tive level of care necessary to maintain the child’s safety. The least restric-
tive setting is family foster care and kinship care, in which children live in
families and attend schools and receive ser vices in the community in which
they live. Therapeutic and specialized foster homes are somewhat more re-
strictive, because children are provided with a structured behavioral man-
agement program and may attend specialized schools. Nonetheless, they
are still living with a family and are cared for by parent fi gures. Group
homes are more restrictive, in that children live in a group setting, are cared
for by rotating shifts of professional staff, and are typically subject to a series
of “house rules” and restrictions regarding their activities and movement in
the community. Even more restrictive are diagnostic reception centers
(DRCs) and residential treatment centers (RTCs), in which children receive
a regimen of treatment and often participate in behavioral management re-
ward and punishment systems to control and shape their emotions and be-
haviors. It is important to bear in mind that even at the highest level of
restrictiveness, DRC and RTC facilities are not secured (i.e., locked), and
children are able to leave the premises at any time (although it is likely that
there will be consequences for leaving without permission).
The fourth tenet of the child welfare system is that once a child is placed
in care, the length of time a child remains in foster care should be as short
as possible in order to maintain family- child bonds. As noted above, consid-
erable research has focused on identifying factors associated with length of
stay, and several legislative initiatives have spurred efforts to shorten stays
for children in care.
A fi fth tenet is that children in foster care should achieve permanency, ei-
ther by reunifying them with their family of origin or through adoption into
an alternative permanent family. The early research on foster care drift
highlighted the problem of children spending too many years in the system,
moving from one foster home to another with no efforts made toward
achieving a permanent home. In response, concurrent planning, which in-
volves the simultaneous pursuit of reunifi cation and adoption options, is
now mandated casework practice.
The sixth tenet is the emphasis on placing children with relatives when-
ever possible. This is known as kinship care. Although fi gures vary by
agency, nationwide approximately 30 percent of all children in family- level
foster care are currently being cared for by relatives (United States Depart-
ment of Health and Human Ser vices 2000). Kinship care represents the
