Health-related benefits among children in the child welfare system: Prevalence and determinants of basic and/or attendance benefits

Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence and determinants of basic and/or attendance benefits among children involved with the child welfare system (CWS). Design: A register study of all children involved with CWS in Norway from 1997-2006. Participants: 96,354 children from the CWS group and 149,030 children who had never been in the CWS as a comparison group. Results: 11% of children involved with CWS received basic and/or attendance benefits compared to 3% in the comparison group. In multivariate logistic regression, the boys' chances of ever receiving basic and/or attendance benefits were greater than the girls' chances. The chances of receiving benefits increased nearly four to sixfold as a child becomes older. However, they decrease as the age at debut to CWS increases. It was also revealed that those children who stayed under child welfare for two or more years had an increased chance of ever receiving basic and/or attendance benefits. For children with reported behavioral disorders, the chances of basic and/or attendance benefits were nearly twofold. For children under home-based support and medication interventions, the chances of receiving basic and/or attendance benefits were greater than for children who were not under these interventions. Conclusion: Chronic health conditions that claim basic and/or attendance benefits were more prevalent among children involved with CWS than the general children's population. This phenomenon may be explained by gender, age, age at debut to CWS, length of stay under CWS, types and reasons for interventions.