1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The objective of this paper is to understand the effect of short-term placements and factors associated with re-entry into care using propensity weighted models that more rigorously adjust for selection bias between placement durations prior to family reunification […].» (p. 119)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The present study was based on a secondary analysis of data from an evaluation of Quebec’s Youth Protection Act. […] The data used in this study was composed of two population cohorts: all children who were the subject of investigations by Quebec’s CPS [child protection services] from September 2007 to August 2008 and from January 2009 to December 2009 (n = 17,101). The application of [inclusion] criteria resulted in a total number of 5755 children.» (p. 119)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In particular, this study confirms that having been moved between settings during a first placement and having the first placement occur in a group setting increases the risk of re-entry into care, especially in the first year following family reunification. […] Our analysis shows that having experienced a first placement lasting 60 days or less may influence a child’s re-entry into care, beyond the two individual preplacement characteristics (age and having been physical abused) that we found to be significantly associated with short-term placements. The observed connection between short-term placements and re-entry into care therefore cannot be attributed solely to these characteristics of the children who experienced short-term placements. Our results also show that: […] the connection between short-term placements and re-entry into care varies as time goes on; and […] emergency placements (1 to 5 days) and provisional placements (6 to 60 days) differ in their effects on the risk of re-entry into care. Compared to children whose first placement lasted > 60 days, children whose first placement lasted 1 to 5 days were at significantly greater risk of re-entering into care during the first three years after being reunified with their families.» (p. 121)