The Association Between Permanency and Length of Time in Foster Care for Children with Older Adult Foster Caregivers: Children Removed Due to Substance Use Behavior

Background Previous literature suggests that children removed from home due to parental substance use disorder (SUD) and placed with older adult foster parents are more likely to achieve permanency than children placed with younger foster parents; however, little, if any, literature has examined this trend across racial identities. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the intersectional effects of removal due to parental SUD, child’s race/ethnicity, and foster parent age on likelihood of, and time to, child permanency. Methods Twelve years of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data were linked to capture all children in the U.S. foster care system between January 1, 2007 and September 30, 2018. Application of multiple sampling procedures resulted in a final analytic sample of 1,943,280. Results All children with older adult foster parents were more likely to achieve permanency than those with younger foster parents. However, white children with substance-related removals were 17% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. In contrast, children of color with substance-related removals were only 9% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. Conclusions These findings suggest that older adult foster parents are associated with beneficial effects that may mitigate the deleterious impact of parental SUD on permanency. However, the strength of this protective effect was diminished for children of color. These findings call for attention to the supports available to older adults who foster children of color.