TRANSITIONS FROM AND RETURNS TO OUT-OF-HOME CARE

This longitudinal study employs bivariate probit regression analysis t o examine factors associated with returns home from, and reentry to, o ut-of-home care for 21,484 children placed by child welfare authoritie s in California. A central focus of the study is to determine the degr ee to which phenomena unaccounted for in analyses of the returns home from care are correlated with factors unaccounted for in analyses of t he process of reentry to care. Although a previous analysis implies di rect effects of race and age on foster care reentry, current results s uggest that these effects are mediated by other factors. A second conc ern of the study led to the finding that Aid to Families with Dependen t Children eligibility is associated with delays in the return home of children initially placed in kinship foster care.