Predictors of psychosocial functioning change in state's custody at six months

Our nation's most troubled, needy, and vulnerable youths are among the 650,000 children in out-of-home care (National Center for Policy Analysis, 1997). These youths have been determined to be abused, delinquent, unruly, dependent, and/or neglected. In Tennessee alone there is presently a total of 11,390 children in out-of-home care (State of Tennessee Department of Finance, 1998). The number of children in out-of-home care increases as the number of children entering care outnumber those leaving care (Children's Bureau, 1999). "Foster Care Drift" was a term first used in the 1970's when the number of children in out-ofhome care soared to 500,000 in 1977 (National Commission on Children, 1990). This prompted passing of legislation such as the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 - Public Law 96-272 and The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 - P.L. 105-89. Public Law 96-272 was the first attempt to reduce the number of children in out-of-home care. Permanency planning framework was to end foster care drift; the law's fiscal incentives were intended to assist in increasing the adoption of special needs children and to encourage the development of placement prevention programs. The law also required states to create an information system on the children in states care so that basic demographic information regarding these children and their families would be readily available.