2024-03-29T09:15:21
150422
Fri Mar 29 09:15:22 EDT 2024
Data and Code for: Economics of Foster Care
Anthony Bald
Joseph J. Doyle
Max Gross
Brian A. Jacob
150422
https://doi.org/10.3886/E150422V1
Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. These children exhibit poor outcomes as children and adults, and economists have begun to estimate the causal relationship between foster care and life outcomes. This paper provides background on the latest trends in foster care policy and practice to highlight areas most in need of rigorous evidence. These trends include efforts to prevent foster care on the demand side and to improve foster home recruitment on the supply side. With increasing data availability and a growing interest in evidence-based practices, there are a range of opportunities for economic research to inform policies that protect vulnerable children.The code and data contained here can be used to replicate a portion of the statistics, tables, and figures presented in this study. We use two sources of data: publicly available data from the KIDS COUNT Data Center, and restricted use AFCARS Foster Care files. All KIDS COUNT data used in our study are contained here. AFCARS data are not publicly available, therefore we provide instructions for accessing the data. All code used in this study is contained here.
economics
foster care
child welfare
H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
H53 National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
USA
1995 – 2019
administrative records data
program source code
<span>Annie E. Casey Foundation. 2022. KIDS COUNT Data Center: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datacenter.kidscount.org/">http://datacenter.kidscount.org/</a>.<br></span><br><span>U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2020. <i>Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), Foster Care Files 1995-2019</i> [Dataset]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Children’s Bureau. <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://doi.org/10.34681/K17X-DD19/">https://doi.org/10.34681/K17X-DD19/</a>.</span>