Transitioning from group care to family care: Child welfare worker assessments

This study explored the perspectives of child welfare workers of 232 youth currently placed in group care. Qualitative comments from workers were coded to identify barriers to placing youth in a family setting. Workers were also asked to assess the youth's readiness to transition to family care. Logistic regression identified several youth and family characteristics significantly associated with being assessed as a good candidate for family care. Worker assessment of good candidacy for family care was also significantly associated with being placed in a family setting six months later. Using discriminant function analysis, other variables were identified that more accurately predicted subsequent family care placement. Recommendations for designing efforts to transition youth from group care to family care are presented.