Exploring stability and change processes in foster care: An application of organizational ecology to human populations.

Abstract

It is commonly believed that stability in care-giving arrangements is critical to the healthy development of children. However, few studies have looked at the structural dynamics that underlie development of that stability. This dissertation begins to fill that gap by using a longitudinal data-set of a foster child population and theories from organizational ecology to examine change processes in foster care relationships on a population level. The dissertation contains a methodological review of the length of stay research and a detailed explanation of the theory underlying two empirical studies. The first study reports that the "liability of adolescence" theory from organizational ecology aptly describes establishment of foster care relationships. After a short hiatus, the rate of relationship disruption rises to a peak, then decreases until a relatively low level is established. Once a relationship passes this critical time, the longer it lasts, the more likely it is to survive. This implies the current foster care system's response after trouble occurs may be too late. Proper timing would support the relationships as they form immediately upon placement. The second empirical study uses "resetting the liability of newness clock" theory to describe the impact of changes in care-giving relationships. The greater the number of care-giving arrangements, the less likely a child is to find a stable home. Furthermore, subsequent arrangements are likely to be increasingly shorter. Instability prior to foster care entry certainly contributes to poor social adjustment; this result suggests that foster care can exacerbate that problem. These studies have implications for policy, practice and theory. Policymakers have used psychological studies intended to help develop intervention techniques for specific sub-populations, to develop policy. This research provides them (as well as theorists and practitioners) with an understanding of the underlying processes that impact stability in foster care. Furthermore, this study develops a statistical model that can describe and quantify the impact of an entry or change condition on the exit rate of foster children from placement relationships. Such a model can be used to explicate the effects of child, foster parent, agency or caseworker characteristics and environmental conditions on length of stay.