A study of essential factors for successful placement of foster care children in a Georgia metropolitan county.

• Main Author: Martin, Alicia
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2014
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/1532; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3206&context=dissertations

This study examines the factors that likely contribute to successful placement of foster children in a metropolitan county in Georgia. All subjects of this study are foster children of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), DeKalb County. One hundred and twenty-three (123) children 15 years old and above, voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The study utilized a self-administered foster-child survey. A survey questionnaire was administered in the agency's regularly scheduled group meetings during the months of March and April 2010. The groups' sizes varied between 10-20 youth who averaged 40-minutes to complete the survey. Various studies show neglect is a dominant factor in determining placement of a child in foster care. A diverse range of studies also revealed that foster care children experience multiple types of maltreatment, e.g., neglect, emotional, mental, sexual, or physical abuse, psychosocial disorders, or parental absence, that lead to removal from their home and parents. Thirty-six percent of the survey sample showed child neglect as the biggest factor for the child's placement in foster care, followed by 26% of placements due to multiple forms of maltreatment.