Factors associated with exiting and reentry into out-of-home care under Community-Based Care in Florida

One of the major goals of the child welfare system emphasized by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) has been to achieve permanency for children who are removed from their homes. In response to the demands to meet ASFA requirements the State of Florida began to reform its child welfare system via implementation of Community-Based Care (CBC). The goals of the study were to assess the ability of CBC to meet (ASFA) requirements and examine factors associated with undesired child welfare outcomes for children with different legal status. The results of multilevel Cox regression analysis indicated that among children whose parents' rights were not terminated younger children, children who came from single-parent families, and children with emotional problems were less likely to be discharged within 12 months. Children whose parents' rights were terminated were less likely to have a timely exit from out-of-home care if they were older and if they were African American. Age, minority status, length of stay in out-of-home care and both emotional and behavioral problems were found to be significantly associated with reentry into out-of-home care. However, the strongest predictor for reentry was reunification with a child's original family. Implications of these findings are discussed.