Probation foster care as an outcome for children exiting child welfare foster care.

Little research has been done to help us understand what happens to children who exit child welfare foster care for reasons other than emancipation. Almost no research exists to help us understand out-of-home placement supervised by other providers of children's social services such as juvenile probation or mental health. This study examined school-age children who entered out-of-home placement supervised by probation departments after they left child welfare foster or group care. Instability in child welfare placements significantly increased the risk of a transition to probation foster care. Among the children exiting child welfare placements, those who had entered their first spell in care at ages 12 through 14 or were first removed because of sexual abuse or neglect were at greater risk of probation out-of-home placement. Implications for social work policy and services are discussed.