Dataset Information

Factors associated with re-entry to out-of-home care among children in England.

ABSTRACT: Exiting and re-entering out-of-home care (OHC) is considered a disruption to permanence which may have long-lasting, negative consequences for children due to a lack of stability and continuity. Each year approximately one-third of children in OHC in England exit, but information is lacking on rates of re-entries and associated factors. Using national administrative data, we calculated rates of re-entry among children exiting OHC from 2007 to 2012, identified key child and care factors associated with re-entry using Cox proportional hazards modelling, and developed a simple probability calculator to estimate which groups of children are most likely to re-enter OHC within three months. Between 2007 and 2012 re-entries to OHC in England decreased (from 23.3% to 14.4% within one year of exit, p<0.001), possibly due to concurrent changes in the way children exited OHC. Overall, more than one-third of children exiting OHC in 2008 re-entered within five years (35.3%, N=4076), but rates of re-entry varied by child and care characteristics including age, ethnicity, mode of exit, and placement stability. Based on these associated factors, we developed a calculator that can estimate the likelihood of rapid re-entry to OHC for a group of children and could be used by social care practitioners or service planners. Our findings provide insight into which groups of children are most likely to re-enter OHC, who may benefit from additional support or ongoing monitoring.

SUBMITTER: Mc Grath-Lone L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6203309 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Factors associated with re-entry to out-of-home care among children in England.

Mc Grath-Lone Louise L Dearden Lorraine L Harron Katie K Nasim Bilal B Gilbert Ruth R

Child abuse & neglect 20161128

Exiting and re-entering out-of-home care (OHC) is considered a disruption to permanence which may have long-lasting, negative consequences for children due to a lack of stability and continuity. Each year approximately one-third of children in OHC in England exit, but information is lacking on rates of re-entries and associated factors. Using national administrative data, we calculated rates of re-entry among children exiting OHC from 2007 to 2012, identified key child and care factors associate ...[more]

PMID: 27907847

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Project description:Background and aimsIdentification of child abuse involves a medical investigation and assessment of problems related to social environment and upbringing and might necessitate out-of-home care. The objective of this study was to analyse infants placed in out-of-home care in Sweden by incidence, medical diagnoses, and perinatal factors.MethodsThis was a population-based register study of infants born in Sweden 1997 to 2014. Data were retrieved from registers at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare and Statistics Sweden. Outcome measures were out-of-home care categories: (a) "Problems Related to Social Environment/Upbringing", (b) "Abuse diagnoses without SDH (subdural haemorrhage), RH (retinal haemorrhage), rib fracture, or long bone fracture", and (c) "SDH, RH, rib fracture, or long bone fracture." As a reference population, we randomly selected infants without medical diagnoses born the same year.ResultsOverall incidence of out-of-home care was 402 per 100 000. For subcategories (a), (b), and (c), the incidences were 14.8 (n = 273), 3.77 (n = 70), and 9.83 (n = 182) per 100 000, respectively. During the study period, the first remained unchanged; the latter two have been increasing. Compared with other reasons for out-of-home care, children in category (c), "SDH, RH, rib fracture, or long bone fracture", had increased odds of being boys (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-2.38) and decreased odds of having a mother being single (aOR 0.49; 95% CI, 0.32-0.75) and a smoker (aOR 0.60; 95% CI, 0.37-0.96). Compared with the reference population, children in this category were more often twin born (7.7% versus 2.8%), preterm (18.5% versus 5.5%), and small-for-gestational age (5.2% versus 2.1%).ConclusionSDH, RH, rib fracture, or long bone fracture constitute a minor part of medical diagnoses for infants entered in out-of-home care, but have been increasing, both in numbers and proportion. Overdiagnosis of abuse might be a possible reason but cannot be ascertained by this study design.

Project description:BackgroundEvictions may have serious consequences for individuals' health and wellbeing. Even though an eviction may be experienced as a significant crisis for the family, there is little previous knowledge on consequences for evicted children. This study represents the first attempt to examine to what extent children from evicted households were separated from their parents and placed in out-of-home care (foster family or residential care) using population-based data, net of observed confounding factors related to the socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances of their parents.MethodsThis study takes advantage of information from a Swedish national database, consisting of about 8 000 evicted individuals and a random sample of 770 000 individuals from the national population, linked to individual-level, longitudinal data from Swedish national registers. Our analytical sample consists of information for more than 250 000 children born in 1995-2008, including 2 224 children from evicted households. We used binary logistic regression based on the Karlson/Holm/Breen method to account for observed imbalances at baseline between evicted and non-evicted children.ResultsCompared to non-evicted children, the crude odds ratio for placement in out-of-home care in evicted children was 12.10 (95% CI 8.54-17.14). Net of observed confounding factors related to the socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances of the parents, evicted children had a twofold elevated risk of being placed in out-of-home care (odds ratio 2.26, 95% CI 1.55-3.27). Crude OR for evicted children in comparison with children under threat of eviction (eviction not formally executed) was 1.71 (95% CI 1.17-2.49) and adjusted OR 1.58 (95% CI 1.06-2.35).ConclusionChildren who experience eviction constitute a disadvantaged group and are at significant risk of being separated from their parents and placed in out-of-home care. These results demonstrate the importance of providing support for these children and their parents. Strategies to prevent households with children from being evicted seem to be an important and viable intervention path.

Dataset Information

Factors associated with re-entry to out-of-home care among children in England.

Publications

Factors associated with re-entry to out-of-home care among children in England.

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