Foster Youth Identity Fraud Victimization: Prevalence and Characteristics, Risk Factors, and Protective Interventions

Identity fraud poses serious risks for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their sensitive personal data are often widely disseminated and difficult to secure. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity fraud victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, insurance, and/or stable and affordable housing, adding barriers to the achievement of key developmental tasks during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. To discover and resolve cases of identity fraud, state child welfare agencies are required by federal law to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care. Although the federal credit check mandate was first enacted more than a decade ago, very few studies have investigated the prevalence or nature of foster youth identity fraud victimization, or the risk factors associated with such victimization. To address these knowledge gaps, this dissertation examines credit monitoring and identity protection program outcomes for young people in Virginia’s foster care system. Chapter 2 investigates the prevalence, characteristics, and demographic correlates of identity fraud victimization among a population-based cohort of 4,670 youth who received credit checks from November 2015 through December 2021. In Chapter 3, logistic regression models examine demographic and foster care placement factors associated with differing odds of victimization among a subsample of 1,176 cohort youth who received a credit check during Virginia state fiscal year 2021. In a separate but related analysis, Chapter 4 explores the implementation of credit freezes as protective interventions for vulnerable children in foster care. Findings from these studies underscore the importance of credit monitoring and identity protection practices in foster care service contexts

Is Counseling Integral to Buprenorphine-Assisted Opioid Addiction Treatment? Examining Counseling Participation and Treatment Retention at a Richmond, Virginia Clinic

Treatment providers in Virginia are required by law to offer counseling or referrals to all clients receiving medication-assisted opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2016; Medical Society of Virginia, 2018). Prescribing physicians widely regard counseling as a critical component of medication-assisted OUD treatment (Lin, Lofwall, Walsh, & Knudsen, 2019), and clients perceive counseling to be among the most important factors promoting recovery from opioid dependence (Hay, Huhn, Tompkins, & Dunn, 2019). Research investigating the efficacy of counseling as an OUD treatment component, however, has been equivocal to date (Brown, 2018; Dugosh et al., 2016). The current study explored associations between counseling type, counseling attendance rates, and treatment duration among a convenience sample of 71 clients receiving buprenorphine-assisted OUD treatment at a Richmond, Virginia outpatient clinic. Among early phase clients (in treatment for 1 to 11 months) only, counseling type was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .019). Among all clients, counseling attendance rate was significantly associated with treatment length (p = .006). Findings suggest that treatment phase moderates the effects of counseling on retention. While this study corroborates previous research linking counseling to positive OUD treatment outcomes for some clients (Dugosh et al., 2016), results emphasize the need for individualized, client-centered treatment planning with ongoing adjustment according to evolving client needs and treatment goals

Predictors of identity crime victimization of adolescent youth in foster care

Identity crimes pose serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their personal data are often widely disseminated, difficult to secure, and thus vulnerable to theft and misuse. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity crime victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, and/or housing during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. Even though federal law requires state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care, little is known about the factors contributing to risk of identity crime victimization among foster care-involved youth, either before or after their initial entry into care. To address this knowledge gap, we analyze linked child welfare and consumer credit records for a population cohort of 4,670 youth (age 14 to 17) in foster care in a southeastern state who received credit checks from November 2015 through December 2021. Using gradient boosted machine learning, we find that prior identity crime victimization before the youth first entered care is the strongest predictor of victimization while in foster care. Implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed

Annual Credit Checks for Adolescent Youth in Foster Care: Factors Associated With Identity Fraud Victimization

Child identity fraud, or the criminal exploitation of a child’s personal data, poses serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. Despite the 10-year history of a federal mandate requiring state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent foster youth (42 U.S.C. § 675), identity fraud has received scant attention in child welfare research. Analyzing a state-level administrative dataset with linked child welfare and consumer credit records, we employed logistic regression to assess demographic and foster care placement factors associated with identity fraud victimization among a statewide population cohort of 1,176 youth (age 14 to 17) in foster care in a mid-Atlantic state. In the model of best fit, covariates significantly associated with differing odds of identity fraud victimization included African American race (OR = 2.67, p \u3c .001); two or more races (OR = 2.95, p = .003); and older age at credit check (OR = 3.49, p \u3c .001). Youth with history of prior home removals (OR = 1.59, p = .059) were marginally more likely than youth with no prior home removals to experience identity fraud, controlling for all other variables

Reintegration of street-connected children in Kenya: Evaluation of Agape Children\u27s Ministry\u27s Family Strengthening Programme

In Kenya, the number of street-involved children continues to grow each decade, with most recent estimates as high as 250,000 to 300,000. Despite efforts by local government, nongovernmental organizations, and community-based organizations to address this problem, most children who receive services end up returning to the streets. Since 2021, Agape Children\u27s Ministry has provided time-limited, crisis-oriented services to families recently reintegrated through its Family Strengthening Programme (FSP). We conducted an exploratory programme evaluation of Agape\u27s FSP to ascertain whether it is achieving the intended outcomes. Thirty families (n = 30 children; n = 38 caregivers) were enrolled in the FSP during the study window and participated in the evaluation. Family functioning and child well-being increased to a statistically significant and large extent from before to after the intervention. All but two children remained reintegrated at the end of the study period. Results highlight the importance of using a holistic family-based programme that reunites children with their healthiest possible family environment with a plan specifically tailored to their individual needs and unique family situations. Results also bring to the fore the need for broad governmental attention to basic needs of families as an important part of improving family functioning

“The program encourages people not to have a heavy heart”: A qualitative study of a family strengthening program in Kenya

There are millions of street-connected children worldwide, with thousands estimated in Kenya. Many child-serving organizations - including Agape Children’s Ministry (Agape) in western Kenya - provide rehabilitation and family reintegration services to remove children from the streets and reunite them with their families. This study aims to elucidate barriers and facilitators of Agape’s Family Strengthening Program (FSP) and elicit feedback. Twelve children and 12 caregivers who participated in the FSP, as well as 11 Agape staff, participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews for this study. Salient child/caregiver themes include: (1) spirituality/religion, (2) reflections on the FSP, (3) reflections on Agape, and (4) family functioning. Staff themes were similar. Results amplify the voices of the participants regarding provision of and participation in the FSP

The Experiences of Older Youth In and Aged Out of Foster Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Material and Financial Well-Being by Foster Care Status, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Ethnicity, and Race

As a marginalized, under-resourced population, older youth with foster care experience are acutely vulnerable to the economic and social harms wrought by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study summarizes findings from an online survey deployed in April 2020 to learn about the experiences of current and former foster youth (ages 18 to 23) during one month of the COVID-19 crisis. Using purposive sampling and a cross-sectional design, the survey yielded a final analysis sample of 281 respondents from 32 states and 192 cities or districts. Findings underscore the pervasive negative impacts of COVID-19 on respondents’ housing/living situations, food security, employment, and financial stability. Chi-square tests and post-hoc analyses revealed demographic disparities in respondents’ experiences during COVID-19. Youth who aged out of care, cisgender females, non-straight youth, and non-white youth were significantly more likely than demographic counterparts to experience pandemic-related adversities. Implications for policy and practice are discussed

“One hundred and ninety-four got licensed by Monday”: Application of Design Thinking for Foster Care Innovation and Transformation in Rhode Island

The American child welfare system is in crisis. Given its history, the beleaguered state of the system evokes little surprise. There is an urgent need for new and creative approaches to problem-solving and transformation in child welfare. Design Thinking, a change management framework that prioritizes deep empathy for end user needs is one such approach, holding promise for helping child welfare systems transform to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Like many states, Rhode Island has long struggled to effectively recruit, license, and retain an adequate pool of resource families. From 2012 to 2017, Rhode Island saw a 12% drop in statewide resource home capacity, measured as the number of beds available in licensed non-relative foster family homes. Over the same five-year period, the total number of children in Rhode Island’s foster care system increased by 7%. This growing discrepancy between placement demand versus available placement resources in the state led to a serious over-reliance on congregate care placements. We utilize a single descriptive case study framework to explore the application of Design Thinking processes to improve foster parent recruitment and licensing in Rhode Island. We interviewed three respondents who worked on the redesign of Rhode Island’s foster parent recruitment and licensing processes. Results from the effort suggest that Design Thinking can facilitate child welfare system change and effectively address the “pain points” of the people for whom solutions are designed

Outcomes following child welfare services: What are they and do they differ for Black children?

Current calls to end structural racism in the US include proposals to abolish or radically transform child welfare services (CWS). While substantial research finds numerous poor outcomes following maltreatment, the efficacy and acceptability of CWS, particularly for children of color, has long sparked debate. This review summarizes the state of quantitative research across seven domains for children overall and by race with varying degrees of CWS contact. Current research with adequate comparisons provides no robust evidence to support the idea that children have worse outcomes from CWS involvement, but few studies focused on Black children. Implications for research and system change are discussed

The Stark Implications of Abolishing Child Welfare: An Alternative Path Toward Support and Safety

Scholars and advocates are at odds about how to achieve higher levels of child safety and permanency. Calls for change include the recent upEND focus on eradication of child welfare services to a radical refocusing of the present system towards prevention/early intervention. To clarify the implications of reform over abolition, we seek to portray a future in which the abolition of child welfare has occurred, in juxtaposition to maintaining four core elements of established child maltreatment programmes around the world: (1) receiving and responding to community signals about the risk to children; (2) assessment of need coupled with a proportionate response; (3) rights protections to ensure fairness when placement outside the family is required; and (4) procedures for accountability and quality improvement. For each of these functions, we outline abolitionist advocates\u27 positions and implications for children and parents. Across these elements, we delineate how assigning these responsibilities to communities, as suggested by upEND, would likely (1) exaggerate racial and economic inequities and (2) create structural barriers that would increase harm to children. We suggest several evidence-informed enhancements to practice, research and policy that would mitigate these inequities while also increasing safety and permanency