Placement stability in the context of child development

Placement stability is important for children to find permanent families, and for social, emotional and educational development of children. This study used the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW, long term foster care general sample) data set to examine foster child and caregiver characteristics, and the caregiver–child relationship as a predictor of placement stability. Logistic regression was performed to predict the odds of achieving placement stability. Due to differences across development, the sample was divided into two groups: early childhood and middle childhood. As expected, in the early childhood group more caregiver than child characteristics affected placement stability. In the middle childhood group it was expected that more child than caregiver characteristics would predict placement stability, however, only child problem behaviors and caregiver experience and age affected placement stability. It was noteworthy that marital status, caregiver education, and income did not. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.

► Placement stability in relation to child development goals was examined.
► We examined child and caregiver characteristics effect on placement stability.
► We examined the caregiver–child relationship's effect on placement stability.
► Marital status, caregiver education, and income did not affect placement stability.
► Caregiver age and experience affect child placement stability in middle childhood.