This article is a discussion of the state of foster care for children with disabilities. This study explores three areas related to foster care outcomes: 1) previous disrupted or dissolved adoptions among youth with and without intellectual disabilities; 2) demographic or disability related disparities of youth with intellectual disabilities who were and were not discharged from care; and 3) foster care outcomes of youth with and without intellectual disabilities.
Slayter notes that children with intellectual disabilities are more likely to be placed in restrictive foster care than those without disabilities. Furthermore, there are concerns that children in foster care may experience trauma due to a variety of causes. Potential negative experiences may function together to create cumulative risk for negative life outcomes, which present threats to community inclusion. There is a major concern relating to the need of “permanency planning”. Little is known about the factors associated with adoption disruption or displacement. There is also little known about foster care outcomes of children under 18 with intellectual disabilities.
The study finds that foster children with intellectual disabilities are 1.9 times more likely to have experienced an adoption disruption prior to the current foster care episode. The study also found certain demographic risk factors, which include children with intellectual disabilities who exited foster care in 2012 were less likely to be American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander and White, but roughly equally likely to be Latino/a or African American/Black as compared to children who remained in foster care. Lastly, the study found that foster children with intellectual disabilities were almost two times more likely to be adopted than were their counterparts without intellectual disabilities.