Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, United States of America.
Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, United States of America.
Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Jul;153:106841. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106841. Epub 2024 May 14.
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on racial/ethnic differences in the US foster care system is unknown.
To study the COVID-19 pandemic-related differences in racial/ethnic disparities in entry rates, exit rates, and adverse exits from foster care in US.
Dataset: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) data from Census Bureau.
1,040,581 children entering and 1,140,370 children exiting foster care between 2017 and 22, under age 25 years.
Age-group, sex, and race/ethnicity-specific entry rates were compared using Fisher's exact test. Exit rates and adverse exits were compared using Cox proportional hazard and logistic regression models respectively using difference-in-difference approach.
Entry rates increased for all children <1 year during COVID [entry ratio = 2.75 (2.72, 2.78)], especially American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) [entry ratio = 3.00 (2.80, 3.22)]. Exit rates decreased for all children during pandemic [exit ratio (ER) for white children = 0.399 (0.395, 0.403), p < 0.0001] with persistent disparities for AIAN [ER = 0.86 (0.83, 0.90)] and Hispanic children [ER = 0.96 (0.94, 0.97)] compared to white children. Adverse exits increased slightly during pandemic for most racial/ethnic groups [OR for white children = 1.09 (1.06, 1.12), p < 0.0001] with increase in disparities for most children of color, except Asian children. The greatest increase in disparities was for AIAN children [OR for adverse exits compared to white children post pandemic = 9.43 (8.82, 10.07), p < 0.0001].
The pandemic adversely affected all children in foster care. Entry rates disproportionately increased for AIAN children. Disparities in exit rates persisted for AIAN and Hispanic children. Disparities in adverse exits increased for most children of color, especially, AIAN children.
COVID-19 大流行对美国寄养系统中种族/族裔差异的影响尚不清楚。
研究 COVID-19 大流行期间美国寄养系统中入籍率、离籍率和不良离籍率的种族/族裔差异。
数据集：人口普查局的收养和寄养分析报告系统（AFCARS）数据。
2017 年至 22 年间，年龄在 25 岁以下的 1040581 名进入寄养系统和 1140370 名离开寄养系统的儿童。
使用 Fisher 精确检验比较了按年龄组、性别和种族/族裔划分的入籍率。使用差异中的差异方法，分别使用 Cox 比例风险和逻辑回归模型比较了离籍率和不良离籍率。
所有<1 岁的儿童的入籍率都有所增加[入籍率比（entry ratio）=2.75（2.72，2.78）]，尤其是美国印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民（AIAN）[entry ratio=3.00（2.80，3.22）]。所有儿童的离籍率在大流行期间都有所下降[白人儿童的离籍率（exit ratio）=0.399（0.395，0.403），p<0.0001]，而 AIAN 儿童的离籍率持续存在差异[ER=0.86（0.83，0.90）]和西班牙裔儿童[ER=0.96（0.94，0.97）]与白人儿童相比。大多数种族/族裔群体的不良离籍率在大流行期间略有增加[白人儿童的比值比（OR）=1.09（1.06，1.12），p<0.0001]，除了亚洲儿童外，大多数有色人种儿童的差异都有所增加。差异最大的是 AIAN 儿童[与白人儿童相比，大流行后不良离籍率的比值比（OR）=9.43（8.82，10.07），p<0.0001]。
大流行对所有寄养儿童都产生了不利影响。AIAN 儿童的入籍率不成比例地增加。AIAN 和西班牙裔儿童的离籍率差异持续存在。大多数有色人种儿童的不良离籍率差异增加，尤其是 AIAN 儿童。
