Factors affecting the foster care placement decision: an analysis of national survey data.

With more than 350,000 children in foster care in the United States, this paper explores why some children are removed from their biological parents while others, with similar problems, receive services in the home. A discriminant analysis of children who were placed in foster care and those who were provided supportive services at home suggests that, for children in all age groups, parents' income level is the best predictor of a child's removal from the home.