FORT COLLINS, Colo., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Vulnerable children placed with relatives do as well or better than those placed with foster parents, U.S. researchers said.
Lead researcher Marc Winokur of the Social Work Research Center at Colorado State University reviewed data from 62 studies on children in out-of-home placements.
They found children in kinship care experienced fewer behavioral and mental health problems and had more stable placements than did children in foster care.
A substantial proportion of children removed from the home for abuse or neglect during the past 20 years have been placed with relatives. In 2005, almost 125,000 children in the United States were formally placed with kin while there has been an increase in children cared for by family and friends in England from 6 percent in 1989 to 12 percent in 2005, Winokur said.
The researchers stress that each child's needs must still be assessed on a case by case basis. They said more rigorous studies need to be carried out to verify the results and establish how placement type affects educational and other outcomes.
The findings are published in the Cochrane Library.
