Browsing by Subject "Foster Home Care"

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    Do specialty courts achieve better outcomes for children in foster care than general courts?
    (Eval Rev, 2013-02) Sloan, Frank A; Gifford, Elizabeth J; Eldred, Lindsey M; Acquah, Kofi F; Blevins, Claire E
    OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the effects of unified family and drug treatment courts (DTCs) on the resolution of cases involving foster care children and the resulting effects on school performance. METHOD: The first analytic step was to assess the impacts of presence of unified and DTCs in North Carolina counties on time children spent in foster care and the type of placement at exit from foster care. In the second step, the same data on foster care placements were merged with school records for youth in Grades 3-8 in public schools. The effect of children's time in foster care and placement outcomes on school performance as measured by math and reading tests, grade retention, and attendance was assessed using child fixed-effects regression. RESULTS: Children in counties with unified family courts experienced shorter foster care spells and higher rates of reunification with parents or primary caregivers. Shorter foster care spells translated into improved school performance measured by end-of-grade reading and math test scores. Adult DTCs were associated with lower probability of reunification with parents/primary caregivers. CONCLUSION: The shortened time in foster care implies an efficiency gain attributable to unified family courts, which translate into savings for the court system through the use of fewer resources. Children also benefit through shortened stays in temporary placements, which are related to some improved educational outcomes.
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    Is inhalant use a risk factor for heroin and injection drug use among adolescents in the United States?
    (Addictive behaviors, 2007-02) Wu, Li-Tzy; Howard, Matthew O
    We examined whether inhalant use was associated with heroin and injection drug use (IDU) among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States.Data were drawn from the 2002/2003 administrations of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). We conducted logistic regression analyses to estimate associations of inhalant use with heroin use, heroin injection, and IDU, respectively, among adolescent drug users (N=8161).Approximately 30.9% of adolescents had ever used at least one illicit drug. More than one-fifth (22.2%) of adolescents were past-year or recent drug users. Among past-year adolescent drug users, 1.4% had progressed to heroin use and 1.2% reported IDU. Adolescents who had used inhalants and marijuana were 2.8 and 2.9 times as likely as adolescents who had used marijuana but not inhalants to report heroin use and any IDU, respectively. Adolescents who had used inhalants or other drugs but not marijuana were unlikely to use heroin. However, inhalant users, irrespective of their marijuana use histories, had greater odds of IDU than drug users who had not used inhalants. Adolescent drug users who were females, school dropouts, whites, or delinquents had significantly increased odds of heroin use and IDU. Cigarette smoking before the age of 15 was strongly associated with heroin use, and a history of foster care placement was associated with IDU.This national study of American adolescents identifies several subgroups of recent drug users, such as females, school dropouts, and youth who have used inhalants and marijuana, which have substantially increased odds of heroin use and IDU. Screening, prevention, and treatment interventions targeted to these groups might reduce medical and social complications of heroin use and IDU.
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    Psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders in a nationally representative sample of American adolescents involved with foster care.
    (The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2006-04) Pilowsky, Daniel J; Wu, Li-Tzy
    To ascertain the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders among adolescents with a lifetime history of foster care placement, using data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents.We studied adolescents aged 12-17 years in the public use file of the 2000 National Household on Drug Abuse (n = 19,430, including 464 adolescents with history of foster care placement). Psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders were ascertained through direct interviewing of adolescents. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the odds of past-year psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders among adolescents involved with foster care, as compared to those without a lifetime history of foster care placement (comparison group).Adolescents involved with foster care had more past-year psychiatric symptoms, and especially more conduct symptoms, and past-year substance use disorders than those never placed in foster care. Adolescents involved with foster care were about four times more likely to have attempted suicide in the preceding 12 months (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.78, 5.61), and about five times more likely to receive a drug dependence diagnosis in the same period (AOR 4.81; 95% CI 3.22, 7.18).Adolescents involved with foster care have a higher prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and drug use disorders than those never placed in foster care. Additionally, the results of this study suggest that they may be at elevated risk for suicide attempts.