Despite increased attention to gender differences in youthful offending, no known studies have examined the relative impact of poverty, maltreatment, and their combination on gender-specific patterns of offending. This research addresses the question of the differential impact of maltreatment...

Children's paths through the child welfare system to permanency (adoption, reunification or guardianship) are complicated. Currently, federal policy and the child welfare literature point to reunification with the birth parents as the preferred type of permanent exit. The time it takes to move...

Hierarchical or multilevel models are based on the same fundamental concepts that apply to simple linear models. The linear forms of these models can be interpreted with relative ease as parameter estimates do not differ in magnitude or interpretation from standard non-hierarchical models....

This study explored the perspectives of child welfare workers of 232 youth currently placed in group care. Qualitative comments from workers were coded to identify barriers to placing youth in a family setting. Workers were also asked to assess the youth's readiness to transition to family care....