Prevalence, experiences, and characteristics of children and youth who enter foster care through voluntary placement agreements

• Published in: Children and youth services review Vol. 74; pp. 62 - 70
• Main Author: Hill, Katharine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Agreements; Child placement; Child welfare; Community-based services; Disabilities; Foster care; Foster children; Parents & parenting; Personal characteristics; State courts; Supervision; Voluntary; Voluntary foster care agreements; Welfare state; Youth; Disabilities; Foster care; Voluntary foster care agreements; Community-based services
• ISSN: 0190-7409; 1873-7765
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.01.025

A voluntary foster care placement (sometimes referred to as a voluntary placement agreement) is an agreement, entered into without court involvement, between a state or county child welfare agency and a child's parents to place a child into out-of-home placement. When a child enters foster care through this type of placement, state and federal programs that cover children who enter child welfare due to a court order become the custodians of the voluntarily-placed-child's placement, care, and supervision. In this cross-sectional, exploratory study, data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) was used to examine the characteristics and experiences of children who enter foster care through a voluntary foster care agreement, and to compare them with those of children who enter foster care through a court order. Findings indicate that children who are placed through a voluntary placement agreement differ from children who enter through a court order in their personal characteristics, as well as in their placement settings, length of placement, and manner of discharge from foster care. This study provides a baseline for future research into this area of child welfare practice. •More than 21,000 children entered foster care through a voluntary placement agreement in 2013.•Children who were placed in foster care voluntarily were more likely to have a disability diagnosis.•Voluntarily placed children are more likely to be placed in group homes or institutions.