Hard-to-place children: A life course perspective

Abstract

The New York City Child Welfare Administration in 1987 issued a request for proposals to voluntary child welfare agencies requesting programs to be developed for Hard-to-Place adolescents. This request was made as there were several hundred children who; due to their disruptive behavior, required special programs other than the traditional foster care programs. This study is as content analysis of the closed case records of adolescents who resided in Hard-to-Place programs between 1991-1994. Prior to this study very little was known about the specific characteristics of this group.;The purpose of this descriptive study was to gather and analyze data which would help the professionals working with this population become more informed as to their needs.;A case reading schedule developed by Dr. David Fanshel, Dr. Stephen Finch and Mr. John Grundy was used to collect the data from the case records and 48 completed schedules provided the data for this study.;New York City has a rich history of servicing children who are in need of foster care. Difficult and disruptive adolescents pose a challenge to any bureaucratic system which attempts to provide services to them.;This study traces the history of these services and presents the characteristics of Hard-to-Place population.;This study makes specific recommendations about providing services to this difficult population as well as makes suggestions to policy makers and child welfare professionals on how bureaucratic structures may impede the provision of child welfare services.