Location of Placement and Juvenile Delinquency: Do Neighborhoods Matter in Child Welfare?

• NCJ Number: 248763
• Journal: Children and Youth Services Review Volume: 44 Dated: September 2014 Pages: 33-45
• Date Published: September 2014
• Author(s): Hui Huang; Joseph P. Ryan
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-IJ-CX-0027
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This study aims to advance the knowledge base by investigating where foster youth are placed in terms of neighborhood characteristics and whether specific neighborhood characteristics were associated with delinquency for adolescents in the child welfare system.

Abstract

The study followed the placement experiences of 2,360 foster youth in Chicago from birth to 16 years of age, using State administrative data, census data, and the community survey of the Project of Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. The results show that foster care placements clustered in neighborhoods characterized by high concentrated disadvantage, low ethnic heterogeneity, low collective efficacy, prevalent neighborhood disorder, and violent culture. The results indicated that neighborhood ethnic heterogeneity is positively associated with delinquent offending. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.