Dr. Ashley Landers, Human Sciences
Rank at time of award: Assistant Professor
and
Dr. Bridget Freisthler, Social Work
Rank at time of award: Professor
Child maltreatment is a pressing public health concern for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. AI/AN children are disproportionality represented in the United States child welfare system in higher rates of contact with child protective services and confirmed child maltreatment compared to non-AI/AN children. Child maltreatment is the primary reason for out-of-home placement (OHP). AI/AN children have higher rates of OHP; they are 2-4x more likely to be placed out-of-home and the likelihood of OHP appears to differ based on individual state data. OHP is costly (e.g., approximately $30,000 per child) and the consequences include increased mental and behavioral health problems and poor educational outcomes. Unfortunately, existing literature is limited to comparisons of AI/AN children to children of other races. Such studies do not account for variability among AI/AN children, which is the gap this project intends to fill. To move the field forward, we need to move beyond between racial comparisons to within-groups comparisons that allow us to identify which AI/AN children are at greatest risk for OHP. Identifying which AI/AN children are at greatest risk for OHP is essential to informing targeted prevention efforts. Since we do not know which AI/AN children are at greatest risk, or what factors are contributing to the OHP of AI/AN children, we are currently unable to prevent it. While geographic factors explain differences in AI/AN children’s OHP compared to children of other races, the role of geographic factors in explaining within-group differences in OHP among AI/AN children is unknown. Since geographic factors explain differences in OHP rates between AI/AN and children of other races, and AI/AN children’s likelihood of OHP differs in state data, geographic factors (e.g., state, county) may explain differences in OHP among AI/AN children.
The proposed study will link existing national child welfare data including the National Child Abuse & Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) to U.S. Census data (IPUMS NHGIS) to explore the impact of geographic factors on OHP for AI/AN children. This study expands upon the few studies conducted to date that explicitly focuses on the OHP of AI/AN children and centers a historically marginalized group within child welfare by attending to their uniqueness through within-group analyses that allow for the exploration of how geographic factors impact AI/AN children’s OHP. This study applies an innovative methodological approach to leverage existing child welfare and U.S. Census data to explore the impact of geographic factors on the likelihood of OHP for AI/AN children using within-group analyses. Merging existing national child welfare data longitudinally across the last 10 years is important because the composition of AI/AN children is continuously evolving and existing research relies on data collected more than two decades ago. Furthermore, existing research has relied on between-groups analyses, failing to account for differences within AI/AN children. By creating a national longitudinal dataset of AI/AN children involved with child welfare and examining existing child welfare and U.S. Census data in this way, this will be the first study to explore the impact of geographic factors on OHP for AI/AN children.