Data and Code for: Economics of Foster Care

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Anthony Bald, Harvard University; Joseph J. Doyle, Jr., MIT; Max Gross, Mathematica Policy Research; Brian A. Jacob, University of Michigan

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
code			03/28/2022 01:11:AM
data			03/28/2022 01:12:AM
output			03/28/2022 01:12:AM
README.pdf	application/pdf	244.2 KB	03/27/2022 09:11:PM
master.do	text/plain	861 bytes	03/27/2022 09:11:PM

Project Citation:

Bald, Anthony, Doyle, Jr., Joseph J., Gross, Max, and Jacob, Brian A. Data and Code for: Economics of Foster Care. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-05-02. https://doi.org/10.3886/E150422V1

Project Description

Summary: Foster care provides substitute living arrangements to protect maltreated children. The practice is remarkably common: it is estimated that 5 percent of children in the United States are placed in foster care at some point during childhood. These children exhibit poor outcomes as children and adults, and economists have begun to estimate the causal relationship between foster care and life outcomes. This paper provides background on the latest trends in foster care policy and practice to highlight areas most in need of rigorous evidence. These trends include efforts to prevent foster care on the demand side and to improve foster home recruitment on the supply side. With increasing data availability and a growing interest in evidence-based practices, there are a range of opportunities for economic research to inform policies that protect vulnerable children.

The code and data contained here can be used to replicate a portion of the statistics, tables, and figures presented in this study. We use two sources of data: publicly available data from the KIDS COUNT Data Center, and restricted use AFCARS Foster Care files. All KIDS COUNT data used in our study are contained here. AFCARS data are not publicly available, therefore we provide instructions for accessing the data. All code used in this study is contained here.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: economics; foster care; child welfare

JEL Classification:
      H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
      H53 National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
      H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
      I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
      J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
      J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

Geographic Coverage: USA

Time Period(s): 1995 – 2019

Universe: Children reported for maltreatment and in foster care.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; program source code

Methodology

Data Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation. 2022. KIDS COUNT Data Center: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2020. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), Foster Care Files 1995-2019 [Dataset]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Children’s Bureau. https://doi.org/10.34681/K17X-DD19/.

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-05-02]

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