Child Abuse & Neglect

Associations between intensity of child welfare

involvement and child
development among young children in child welfare_
Aubyn C. Stahmera,b,, Michael Hurlburta,f, Sarah
McCue Horwitzd, John Landsverka,c,
Jinjin Zhanga, Laurel K. Leslie a,e
a Child and Adolescent Services Research Center at Rady
Childrens Hospital, USA
b University of California, San Diego, Department of
Psychology, USA
c San Diego State University, School of Social Work, USA
d Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University in Palo
Alto, CA, USA
e Tufts Medical Center, Departments of Medicine and
Pediatrics in Boston, MA, USA
f School of Social Work, University of Southern California
USA
articleinfo
Article history:
Received 4 January 2007
Received in revised form 23 June 2008
Accepted 14 July 2008

Keywords:
Child welfare
Foster care
Child development
abstract
Objective: To examine developmental and behavioral
status of children in child welfare
(CW) over time, by intensity of CW involvement using a
national probability sample.
Methods: As part of the National Survey of Child and
Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), data
were collected on 1,049 children 1247 months old
investigated by CW agencies for possible
abuse or neglect. Analyses used descriptive statistics to
characterize developmental and
behavioral status across four domains
(developmental/cognitive, language, adaptive
functioning,
and behavior) by intensity ofCWinvolvement (in-home
withCWservices, in-home
with no CW services or out-of-home care) over time.
Multivariate analyses were used to
examine the relationship between independent variables
(age, gender, home environment,

race/ethnicity, maltreatment history, intensity of CW

involvement) and follow-up domain
scores.
Results: On average, children improved in
developmental/cognitive, communication/
language status over time, but these improvements did
not differ by intensity of CW
involvement. Analyses revealed a positive relationship
between the home environment and
change in language and adaptive behavior standard
scores over time, and few predictors
of change in behavioral status. An interaction between
intensity of CW involvement and
initial developmental/cognitive status was present.
_ The Caring for Children in Child Welfare project (CCCW)
is a collaborative effort between the Child and Adolescent
Services Research Center (CASRC)
at Childrens Hospital San Diego, the Department of
Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh), the
Columbus Childrens Hospital, the Services
Effectiveness Research Program at Duke University
(Duke), and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI). The
study is jointly funded by the National Institute of

Mental Health (MH59672) and by the Administration on

Children and Families (90PH0006). A complete description
of the study and a list of key personnel
are available at
http://www.casrc.org/projects/CCCW/index.htm. It should
be noted that this document also includes data from the
National Survey of
Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), which was
developed under contract to RTI from the Administration
on Children, Youth, and Families, U.S.
Department of Health andHumanServices (ACYF/DHHS).
TheCCCWalso maintains ongoing collaboration with
theNSCAWResearch Group. The information
and opinions expressed herein reflect solely the position
of the author(s). Nothing herein should be construed to
indicate the support or endorsement of
its content by ACYF/DHHS.
Corresponding author address: Child and Adolescent
Services Research Center, 3020 Childrens Way, MC 5033,
San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
0145-2134/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All
rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.07.008