NEW STUDY PINPOINTS BIG GAPS IN FOSTER VS. NON-FOSTER HOMES: USA Today

Children in foster care live in poorer, more crowded and less educated homes than kids in other families, often taking them from one disadvantaged environment into another, new research shows.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation study is the first to analyze 2006 Census Bureau data, the most recent available, for a detailed look at foster parents.

"The gaps were so pervasive," says demographer William O'Hare, a senior fellow at the foundation.

O'Hare finds foster households have a lower average income, $56,364, than do all households with children, $74,301, even though they care for more kids.

Half of foster households have three or more children compared with 21% of all other households with that many. The study also finds foster parents are more likely than others to be unemployed and lack a high school diploma.

"Too often the foster care experience adds to the disadvantages these children" have already endured, says O'Hare, noting that most kids are placed in the foster system because of abuse or neglect.

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posted by Eve at 12:36 AM | link

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