Understanding subgroups of child welfare placement histories in the context of youth behavior and development: a latent class analysis

This study aimed to identify latent classes of child welfare placement histories, with a focus on entry to residential treatment settings (RTS), and how youth behavior and development are associated with the probability of latent class membership. This study utilized secondary child welfare administrative data. The study found that a four-class model was the best fit for the data. The four latent classes were defined by instability while in family settings, stability in kinship care, movement through congregate care settings, and stability in non-kinship foster care. Youth behavior and developmental period were significantly associated with latent class membership.