[2330.4] Kinship Care: A Newly Recognized Population with Special Needs
S.B. Eleoff, M.A. Szilagyi, S.H. Jee, G. Montes, P.G. Szilagyi. Pediatrics, Univ of Rochester, Rochester, NY.
BACKGROUND: Children in kinship care (KC) live with a relative other than a birth parent. Unlike children in foster care, this group frequently has little to no oversight by child welfare agencies. While increased health risks for children in foster care are well documented, little is known about either the prevalence of KC or the health status of children in KC.
OBJECTIVE: Describe the prevalence of children living in kinship care, along with their health and family characteristics; and compare these to children living with at least one birth parent.
DESIGN/METHODS: Sample: The 2007 National Survey of Children's Health is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey including over 91,000 US children ages 0-17 years. Design: We used family structure variables to identify children living in KC and compared this group to children living at home with ≥1 birth parent. Dependent Measures: Prevalence of KC, Children with Special Healthcare Needs (using the validated CSHCN screener), health status, caregiver characteristics. Analysis: Bivariate analyses for associations; multivariate logistic regression to adjust for child demographics.
RESULTS: The prevalence of KC across the US is 3.8% (~2.8 million children). Children in KC are more likely than those living with ≥1 parent to be black (48% vs 17%), older than 9 years (59% vs 48%), live at or below 100% of the poverty level (31% vs 18%), and have public health insurance (72% vs 30%) [all p-values <0.001]. Children in KC are more likely to have special healthcare needs and mental health problems (anxiety, depression, ADHD, or conduct disorder) [Table]. KC caregivers are more likely to self-report their own overall health and/or mental health as fair or poor.
Health and Family Status for Children in Kinship Care | Kinship Care | ≥1Birth Parent | Odds Ratio* | p-value | | Child: | | | | | | CSHCN | 29% | 18% | 1.9 | <0.0001 | | Mental health problems | 23% | 10% | 2.5 | <0.0001 | | Asthma | 17% | 13% | 1.4 | 0.0065 | | Caregiver: | | | | | | Fair/poor mental health | 12% | 2% | 3.8 | <0.0001 | | Fair/poor overall health | 26% | 3% | 6.1 | <0.0001 | *Adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, & poverty
CONCLUSIONS: Kinship care is highly prevalent in the US (2.8 million vs ~800,000 in foster care). Both children and their kinship caregivers have high rates of mental health problems. Children in kinship care are a newly recognized special needs population who are likely to benefit from increased oversight and support.
First Author is a Fellow in Training
E-PAS20102330.4
Date: Sunday, May 2, 2010
Platform Session: Underserved Populations II (10:15 AM - 12:15 PM)
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM
Room: East Ballroom B - Vancouver Convention Centre
Course Number: 2330
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