CHILDREN WHO WAIT - LONG-TERM FOSTER-CARE OR ADOPTION

This study focuses on children who have been freed for adoption. Resea rchers examined case records of 147 children in state custody in a mid -Western state in an attempt to identify child characteristics that di stinguish between those children whose social service goal was long te rm foster care and those whose goal was adoption. Results obtained thr ough logistic regression indicated that a model including the variable s of race, age, developmental disabilities of the child, and genetic o r family history that puts the child at risk for medical intervention is significantly predictive of the social service goal. Children who w ere not European-American, were older, and had developmental disabilit ies were more likely to have the case plan of long term foster care, w hile the presence of genetic or family risk factors increased the chan ces that adoption would be planned. The authors discuss the implicatio ns for child welfare policy and practice.