Housing circumstances of disabled parents within the child welfare system

Abstract

Parents with disabilities are more likely than their nondisabled counterparts to have child welfare system involvement. Furthermore, once they are involved in the child welfare system, parents with disabilities have disproportionately high rates of poor outcomes, including termination of parental rights. Inadequate housing is also associated with heightened risk for child welfare system involvement, and yet no study has explored the housing circumstances of parents with different types of disabilities within the child welfare system. The present study aims to fill these gaps by providing a national-level examination of the housing circumstances of parents with disabilities involved in the child welfare system, including parents from racial and ethnic minorities. Using data from data the 2018 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), Poisson regression analyses yielded risk ratios, which were used to compare the housing circumstances of parents with and without disabilities. Interaction terms were used to explore the compounding effects of race and disability. Results show that parents with disabilities compared to parents without disabilities experience heightened risk for inadequate housing. The risk is compounded for Black parents with disabilities. These findings indicate the need to prioritize housing supports for disabled parents with child welfare system involvement.