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Originally Posted by RobinKay
The law currently favors children going home to birthfamily when possible. I agree with that law and the research that shows how well children do when raised by birthfamily..
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Actually, I'm very sorry to say it, but the research shows that on average, children do WORSE when they are returned to relatives than when they are adopted by foster parents. My guess is that this has more to do with class than with anything else----that foster parents, on average, are more well off than the relatives of kids taken into the system. One thing we know for sure is that the greatest predictor of how well kids do in school and in life afterwards is parents' income and education level. (Sucks, but there you have it). Relatives who don't set good boundaries with the birthparents may also cause kids to have worse outcomes. But the aggregate data show that kids do better when adopted by foster parents.
I'll try and dredge up that study from my files and post the reference for you. Of course, statistical averages can't predict what the right answer is in any individual case, so you're right on the money when you say that the CW and the GAL need to be investigating the situation with a great deal of care!