Skip ACF banner and navigation
Department of Health and Human Services logo
Questions?  
Privacy  
Site Index  
Contact Us  
  Home   |   Services   |   Working with ACF   |   Policy/Planning   |   About ACF   |   ACF News Search  
Administration for Children and Families US Department of Health and Human Services

Children's Bureau Safety, Permanency, Well-being  Advanced
 Search

Home > Statistics & Research > Child Abuse & Neglect Research > Abstracts and Findings from Federally Funded Child Abuse and Neglect Research

 

Project Title: Evaluating Quality of Out-of-Home Care in Kinship Foster Families
Grant/Contract Number: 90CW1098
Type of Project: Research
Funding Agency: Children's Bureau
Agency Contact Person: Geneva Ware-Rice
(202) 205-8305
Principal Investigator: Susan J. Wells
Mailing Address: University of Illinois
School of Social Work
1207 West Oregon Street
Urbana, IL 61820
Total Project Duration: 10/1/95 to 9/30/98
FY 98 Total Costs: $199,965
Total Project Budget: $599,895
Child Maltreatment Focus: Not specified
Type of Abuse: Not specified
Sample Size: Not specified
Age of Subjects: 10+ years old
Child Abuse and Neglect Focus
of This Project:		 Not specified
Summary  


The Research Triangle Institute, working with the Child Welfare League of America and the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law, will identify criteria for assessing the quality of out-of-home care provided to children in kinship foster care homes. In several large States, kinship care is the prevailing form of out-of-home care, for African American children, and the fastest growing component of the foster care system. The recent change in the traditional relationship between the child welfare system and foster families requires new standards of care and evaluation. The project will evaluate the quality of care through a kinship foster care provider interview, a child interview, and a case record review. The study will identify and validate both core items that relate to variations in site, culture, and age groups as well as items relating to differences in situation, child characteristics, and culture. A national survey and focus groups in North Carolina and Illinois will be conducted to identify major constructs and indicators to measure the quality of foster care and kinship care. A total of 24 focus groups comprised of workers, supervisors, kinship care families, and children 10 years of age and older will be conducted. Testing for reliability and validity will be done on a sample of 140 families in the same or contiguous geographic areas to those used for the focus groups. Analysis will provide insights into the relationship between quality indicators and child outcomes, the impact of cultural issues on quality indicators, and the relationship of context to family performance in providing foster care.