Foster Care Entry and Later Academic Achievement Among Infants Involved With Child Protective Services

Timing of foster care placement, especially early in life, may have important implications for children's later academic functioning. Given racial disparities in placement decisions, examining associations between age at foster care entry and school outcomes by race is warranted. To address this gap, linked, longitudinal administrative data were used for a cohort of infants involved with child protective services by age one (n = 8795; 47% White, 21% Black, 16% Hispanic, 16% other race/ethnicity; 52% male). Results suggest foster care placement in the first 6 months is related to higher odds of basic reading test scores and lower odds of absenteeism, with associations stronger for Black children. These results have significant implications for the child welfare system.