Novak Abigail, Gutman Colleen K, De Francisco Lopes Vitoria, Boutwell Brian B
Department of Criminal Justice & Legal Studies, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA.
Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Child Prot Pract. 2025 Apr;4. doi: 10.1016/j.chipro.2025.100106. Epub 2025 Jan 29.
Fetal exposure laws mandate child welfare system referral for infants exposed to substances. Though these laws are relatively common, examinations of the consequences of child welfare system involvement for infants exposed to substances are less frequent. The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of out-of-home placement at 18 and 36 months for substance-exposed infants. Using the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (NSCAWII)'s sample of infants (<1 year) referred to the child welfare system for substance exposure (Feb 2008-April 2009), we used propensity score weighting to assess the association between out-of-home placement in infancy and measures of child attachment, behaviors, and social and cognitive development at 18 and 36 months. Our results indicate out-of-home placement for substance-exposed infants may increase risk of negative developmental outcomes compared to keeping infants in their homes, and suggest social workers and practitioners should be cognizant of alternatives to out-of-home placement when evaluating cases of infant substance exposure. Our results also suggest policies that structure decision-making regarding testing and placement may ultimately help improve child outcomes.
胎儿接触物质相关法律规定，对于接触过某些物质的婴儿，需将其转介至儿童福利系统。尽管这些法律较为常见，但对接触物质的婴儿而言，针对儿童福利系统介入后果的研究却相对较少。本文旨在探讨接触物质的婴儿在18个月和36个月时家庭外安置的影响。利用全国儿童和青少年福祉调查二期（NSCAWII）中2008年2月至2009年4月因接触物质而被转介至儿童福利系统的1岁以下婴儿样本，我们使用倾向得分加权法来评估婴儿期家庭外安置与18个月和36个月时儿童依恋、行为以及社会和认知发展指标之间的关联。我们的研究结果表明，与让婴儿留在家中相比，接触物质的婴儿进行家庭外安置可能会增加负面发育结果的风险，并建议社会工作者和从业者在评估婴儿接触物质的案例时，应认识到家庭外安置的替代方案。我们的研究结果还表明，构建关于检测和安置决策的政策最终可能有助于改善儿童的结局。
