IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i10p1181-d114153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foster Care Dynamics and System Science: Implications for Research and Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Fred Wulczyn

    (Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA)

  • John Halloran

    (Department of Social Work, Lewis University, Romeoville, IL 60446, USA)

Abstract

Although system is a word frequently invoked in discussions of foster care policy and practice, there have been few if any attempts by child welfare researchers to understand the ways in which the foster care system is a system. As a consequence, insights from system science have yet to be applied in meaningful ways to the problem of making foster care systems more effective. In this study, we draw on population biology to organize a study of admissions and discharges to foster care over a 15-year period. We are interested specifically in whether resource constraints, which are conceptualized here as the number of beds, lead to a coupling of admissions and discharges within congregate care. The results, which are descriptive in nature, are consistent with theory that ties admissions and discharges together because of a resource constraint. From the data, it is clear that the underlying system exerts an important constraint on what are normally viewed as individual-level decisions. Our discussion calls on extending efforts to understand the role of system science in studies of child welfare systems, with a particular emphasis on the role of feedback as a causal influence.

Suggested Citation

  • Fred Wulczyn & John Halloran, 2017. "Foster Care Dynamics and System Science: Implications for Research and Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1181-:d:114153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1181/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1181/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holmes, Lisa & Landsverk, John & Ward, Harriet & Rolls-Reutz, Jennifer & Saldana, Lisa & Wulczyn, Fred & Chamberlain, Patricia, 2014. "Cost calculator methods for estimating casework time in child welfare services: A promising approach for use in implementation of evidence-based practices and other service innovations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 169-176.
    2. Christopher Swann & Michelle Sylvester, 2006. "The foster care crisis: What caused caseloads to grow," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 309-335, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lindquist, Matthew J. & Santavirta, Torsten, 2014. "Does placing children in foster care increase their adult criminality?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 72-83.
    2. Maya Pendleton & Alan J. Dettlaff, 2024. "Policing Is Reproductive Oppression: How Policing and Carceral Systems Criminalize Parenting and Maintain Reproductive Oppression," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Leah Hamilton, 2021. "Asset Limits in Public Assistance and Savings Behavior Among Low‐Income Families," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 454-467, January.
    4. Christopher Wildeman, 2011. "Parental Incarceration, Child Homelessness, and the Invisible Consequences of Mass Imprisonment," Working Papers 1281, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    5. Kristin F. Butcher & Lucie Schmidt & Lara Shore‐Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2023. "Living with children and food insecurity in seniors," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 234-261, March.
    6. Stéphane Mechoulan, 2011. "The External Effects of Black Male Incarceration onBlack Females," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 1-35, January.
    7. Morrison, Maria & Drake, Brett, 2023. "Foster children in care due to parental incarceration: A national longitudinal study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Lawrence M. Berger & Maria Cancian & Laura Cuesta & Jennifer L. Noyes, 2016. "Families at the Intersection of the Criminal Justice and Child Protective Services Systems," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 171-194, May.
    9. Luck, Anneliese N., 2023. "Variation in cumulative childhood risks of parental imprisonment and foster care removal by state and race/ethnicity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Wildeman, Christopher & Fallesen, Peter, 2017. "The effect of lowering welfare payment ceilings on children's risk of out-of-home placement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 82-90.
    11. Christopher Wildeman & Kristin Turney, 2012. "Positive, Negative, or Null? The Effects of Maternal Incarceration on Children's Behavioral Problems," Working Papers 1440, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    12. Raudkivi, Madli, 2020. "What factors predispose the intention to become a foster family in Estonia: Applying the theory of reasoned action and planned behavior?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    13. Leah Hamilton, 2016. "Incentives in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program: A Review of the Literature," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(2), pages 141-149, June.
    14. Christopher Wildeman, 2014. "Parental Incarceration, Child Homelessness, and the Invisible Consequences of Mass Imprisonment," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 74-96, January.
    15. Christopher Wildeman, 2008. "Paternal Incarceration and Children's Aggressive Behaviors: Evidence from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study," Working Papers 1014, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    16. Miller, Keva M. & Bank, Lewis, 2013. "Moderating effects of race on internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 472-481.
    17. Yi, Youngmin & Edwards, Frank & Emanuel, Natalia & Lee, Hedwig & Leventhal, John M. & Waldfogel, Jane & Wildeman, Christopher, 2023. "State-level variation in the cumulative prevalence of child welfare system contact, 2015–2019," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    18. repec:pri:crcwel:wp12-22-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Trout, Alexandra L. & Epstein, Michael H., 2010. "Developing aftercare: Phase I: Consumer feedback," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-451, March.
    20. Cho, Rosa Minhyo, 2009. "Impact of maternal imprisonment on children's probability of grade retention," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 11-23, January.
    21. Christopher Wildeman & Kristin Turney, 2014. "Positive, Negative, or Null? The Effects of Maternal Incarceration on Children’s Behavioral Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1041-1068, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1181-:d:114153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.