Foster Care - Placement setting stability during reporting period in Pennsylvania

By examining foster care placement setting stability, researchers are able to track longitudinal changes associated with placement permanency and infer what the foster care experience typically looks like for children in the system in terms of number of placements. As shown in the following table, placement stability has steadily increased over the past decade in Pennsylvania. There has been a shift by over 10% since 2011 in which unstable placement (defined as 3 or more placement settings) has declined with the rise of stable placement (defined as 2 or fewer placement settings). This change fortunately suggests that out-of-home placement settings are generally becoming more permanent over time in Pennsylvania. Children in the child welfare system can experience a great amount of instability in out-of-home placement, and certain characteristics such as age, race, and mental health status have been found to impact the likelihood of placement permanency.[5] Because placement instability has been linked to numerous adverse child outcomes, including disrupted development, behavioral problems, social ineptitudes, poor academic achievement, negative self-esteem, and increased distrust of caregivers, considerable child welfare policy has focused on reducing placement instability.[6]

By examining foster care placement setting stability, researchers are able to track longitudinal changes associated with placement permanency and infer what the foster care experience typically looks like for children in the system in terms of number of placements. As shown in the following table, placement stability has steadily increased over the past decade in Pennsylvania. There has been a shift by over 10% since 2011 in which unstable placement (defined as 3 or more placement settings) has declined with the rise of stable placement (defined as 2 or fewer placement settings). This change fortunately suggests that out-of-home placement settings are generally becoming more permanent over time in Pennsylvania. Children in the child welfare system can experience a great amount of instability in out-of-home placement, and certain characteristics such as age, race, and mental health status have been found to impact the likelihood of placement permanency.[5] Because placement instability has been linked to numerous adverse child outcomes, including disrupted development, behavioral problems, social ineptitudes, poor academic achievement, negative self-esteem, and increased distrust of caregivers, considerable child welfare policy has focused on reducing placement instability.[6]