Small Children in Care: A Danish Longitudinal study

1. Small Children in Care: A Danish Longitudinal study Anne-Dorthe Hestbæk, Senior Researcher The Danish National Institute of Social Research Copenhagen

2. The longitudinal study • Any child born in 1995 placed in care • 1st data collection in 2003 (7-8 years old) • N = 576 cases • Follow-up every 3rd year • 2nd data collection in Nov.-Dec. 2006 • Newcomers in care will be included The Danish National Institute of Social Research

3. Research objectives • Which risk and protective factors are children in care exposed to? • Child welfare/child protection interventionsduring childhood and adolescence • Developmental outcomes of the children • Connection risk – protection - interventions - outcomes The Danish National Institute of Social Research

4. Background of the study • Lack of research based knowledge • Dramatic increases in child welfare expenditures • The quality of social child protection work is questioned • The outcomes of care are questioned The Danish National Institute of Social Research

5. Theoretical inspiration Research on risk, protection and resilience, a.o.: • Sroufe, Rutter, Quinton (UK) • Werner & Smith (USA - Kauai study) • SDQ-scale (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, tested and validated in several countries) The Danish National Institute of Social Research

6. 1st data collection 2003 • Interviews with the parents of childrenin care • Questionnaire to carers (foster families, residential institutions etc.) • Questionnaire to social workers currently in charge of the children’s cases The Danish National Institute of Social Research

7. 2nd data collection 2006 • Questionnaire to the carers (foster care, residential care, boarding schools etc.) • Survey-based interviews with the children (web-based or personal) • Register data on children and parents The Danish National Institute of Social Research

8. Parents interviewed about… • Demography • Ethnicity • Socio economic situation • Physical and mental health of child and parents • Child welfare/protection interventions • Placement career • Social competences (SDQ-scale) • School performance (cognitive competences, etc.) • Network, peer relations, leisure activities, etc. The Danish National Institute of Social Research

9. Comparison groups Children in care compared with ongoing longitudinal, representative study on 6,000 children born 1995: • Comparison group I: All 6,000 children • Comparison group II: Children from the most socially disadvantaged families The Danish National Institute of Social Research

10. Overall conclusion • Families with small children in care dispropor-tionately socially disadvantaged in every respect compared to: • The families of the whole ‘95 cohort • The socially disadvantaged families with children not in care • Families with children in care in general (0-17 years) • Multiproblem families: • Characterised by cumulation of severe problems The Danish National Institute of Social Research

11. Longitudinal study of children in care Sub-sample of socially disadvan-taged families Longitudinal study of child develop-ment and welfare Teenage parenthood 28 -  4 *** Unplanned pregnancy 59 23 *** 12 *** Single-parent household 52 33 *** 12 *** Mother given birth to four or more children 27 3 *** More than three marriages/cohabitations 14 6 *** 1 *** Child lost contact with pa-rent not living in the family 37 -  13 *** Death of one/both parents 7  - 1 *** Results on demography - The Danish National Institute of Social Research .

12. Longitudinal study of children in care Sub-sample of socially disadvan-taged families Longitudinal study of child development and welfare No education after compulsory schooling 38 34 3 *** Less than 9 years of schooling 15 5 *** 1 *** No vocational training or education 70 81 13 *** Parents experienced unemployment spells or been out of work during the last three years 58 48 * 8 *** Parents publicly supported by pre-pension schemes 22 7 *** 1 *** Household gross income less than 150,000 DKK a year 37 20 *** 2 *** Results on socio-economic situation The Danish National Institute of Social Research

13. Longitudinal study of children in care Sub-sample of socially disad-vantaged fami-lies Longitudinal study of child development and welfare The child attends a lower class level than expected of the age 45 37 * 24 *** The child performs poorly in Danish 11 6 * 3 *** The child receives special preschool education 24 3 *** 1 *** The child does not like the school 5 4 1 *** Results on school performance The Danish National Institute of Social Research

14. Longitudinal study of children in care Sub-sample of socially disad-vantaged fami-lies Longitudinal study of child development and welfare The child has at least one diagnosed illness/handicap 28 23 13 *** Total SDQ-score within abnormal range 53 26 *** 9 *** The child has not parti-cipated in organised leisure activities within last year 24 31 12 *** Results on health & leisure The Danish National Institute of Social Research

15. Too much instability • The younger at first placement, the longer the child will stay in care • The longer the period of placement, the more instable the care career The Danish National Institute of Social Research

16. Factors associated with instability The Danish National Institute of Social Research

17. Parents’ indicators of strain • No education after compulsory schooling • Socially excluded from the labour market • Diagnosed mental illness • Are or have been substance abusers • Been placed outside home as a child The Danish National Institute of Social Research

18. Children’s indicators of strain • Has a diagnosed severe illness or a handicap • Fall behind children of the same age in school • Total score at the SDQ-scale within the abnormal range • Does not participate in leisure activities The Danish National Institute of Social Research

19. The parents’ level of strain Low (0 indicators) Medium (1-2 indicators) High (3-4 indicators) Total Low (0-1 indicator) 5 15 8 28 Medium (2-3 indicators) 12 32 9 53 High (4-5 indicators) 5 12 2 19 Total 22 59 19 100 Parents’ and children’s strains combined The child’s level of strain The Danish National Institute of Social Research

20. Social policy perspectives A need for: • Intensive and prolonged interventions to the parents, targeting the complex combination of poverty, distress, and limited parenting capacity • Highly specialised interventions for the children (medical, psychiatric, educational etc.) The Danish National Institute of Social Research

21. Extras The Danish National Institute of Social Research

22. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire 25 items attributes covering 5 scales: • 1 scale on pro-social behaviour (5 items) • 4 problem-oriented scales (5 items each) • emotional problems • conduct problems • hyperactivity/inattention • peer relationship problems The Danish National Institute of Social Research

23. Carers interviwed about… • The child’s score on SDQ scale • Cooperation with parents • Cooperation with Child Protective Services • Efforts to preserve the culture of children with ethnic minority background The Danish National Institute of Social Research

24. Themes of interviews with social workers • Formal decisions • Interventions • Legal basis for decisions and interventions • Cooperation with parents The Danish National Institute of Social Research