Instabilitet för barn i samhällsvård : [Instability in child welfare placements]

This paper analyzes stability in out-of-home care for children in Sweden. The study has focused on placement breakdown but also used planned movements and re-placement to study placement stability. The sample consists of 213 children who started 317 placements during 2005 and 2006. Social work case files were examined to follow every placement for, at most, two years from the day that the placement began. Those children who finished their period of care during the study’s follow-up period were monitored for one year after completion of placement to see if "returns home" were stable or if the child was re-placed in care. The analyses reveal that a significant majority of children who returned home from care did so before social workers considered care no longer necessary. The most common reason for end of a placement for preschool aged children was placement movements and for teenager’s placement breakdowns. This result indicates that type of instability depends on children’s age. As in other research, our study revealed teenagers or children with aggressive behavior had an increased risk of placement breakdown. The risk for re-placement increased if the child’s last placement ended because parents withdrew their consent for placement or if the child was placed in institutional care. This study points to the need to discuss the importance of consent, particularly parents of younger children and with youths themselves. It also indicates that if social service wants to increase placement stability they have to take the age of the child in consideration