Who Cares?! Baseline profiles and child development in different 24-h settings

Abstract

The World Health Organization recently estimated that in

Europe alone 117 million children suffer from maltreatment or other adverse

childhood experiences. Some of these children need to be placed in (24-h)

settings for out-of-home care, such as foster care, family-style group care, and residential care. However, children do not always benefit from these services, as suggested by the substantial numbers of children repeatedly experiencing placement breakdowns. Aim of this research is to increase the effectivity and efficiency of out-of-home care services. For this purpose, typical baseline child and family characteristics of out-of-home placed children were linked to children’s development in the various 24-h settings. This knowledge both can provide building blocks for the development of sound decision-making strategies for referral to a certain type of out-of-home care and provide insight into which child and family factors need additional treatment during placement. Together, this increases the likelihood that children for whom (temporary) out-of-home placement is inevitable will receive optimal services with regard to their developmental needs. The research findings have been translated into three fundamental steps to transform the current stepped-care method for allocation decisions into a collaborative, effective, and matched-care model for allocation.