Foster Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Prevalence, Length of Stay, and Placement Patterns

Abstract

The goals of this study are to identify the prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) entering out-of-home care and to focus attention on length of stay and placement stability. To achieve these goals, this study links Illinois administrative data with Medicaid records. Overall, 2.4% of the sample has a diagnosis of ASD. The median length of stay for children with ASD is 1.6 times longer than children without ASD. A latent class analysis identifies three distinct profiles of movement: escalating, de-escalating, and continuous. Study findings are discussed in the context of service needs of children with ASD.

KEYWORDS:

• foster care
• policy issues
• research methodology

Notes

The authors would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of our two anonymous reviewers, Tia Sahwney at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the Institutional Review Board of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

^aAs of March 31, 2012.

^aThis percent refers to the number of random seeds (starting values) associated with the best fitting model; 100 seeds were selected.

*p < .05

**p < .01

***p < .001.

1. Children below the age of 3 are excluded from the sample due to the low incidence of receiving a diagnosis of ASD (CDC, 2012).

2. Under the “15/22” provision states are required to file a petition to terminate parental rights of the child's biological parents and concurrently identify and recruit an appropriate adoptive family for any child, regardless of age, that has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months. ASFA specifies three circumstances in which a decision may be made on an individual basis to not file a termination of parental rights: 1) child is in care of a relative; 2) state is able to document a compelling reason why filing such a petition is not in a child's best interests; and 3) the state agency has not provided the child's family with services that are necessary for reunification. Other ASFA provisions eliminated the option of Long term Foster care as permanency option (Lowry, 2004).

3. Independent living settings made up a small proportion of these settings, and likely reflect the fact that we include individuals who are 18 years old in the sample.

4. Total number of placements is calculated by summing all substitute care placement events including those that are in kinship care, regular foster care, treatment foster care, congregate care or independent living. We exclude all events that are not considered to be formal placement events, including any detention or incarceration, hospitalization, and runaway or missing whereabouts.

5. A hospitalization may occur for multiple reasons, including a physical health or a mental health condition. The information in the child welfare administration is not informative with regard to the reason for a hospitalization.

6. Events coded as a runaway event include those in which a child is missing or whereabouts are unknown.