Abstract

Child welfare professionals daily face the competing risks of balancing the needs and safety of children with different permanency outcomes (i.e., reunification, adoption, guardianship). However, research on permanency has focused on a single outcome or grouped them together under the general label of permanency. The literature suggests that there are differences in time to a particular permanency outcome and also the factors predicting these permanency outcomes. After using approximately 25,000 records to support these conclusions, this research as well as practice indicates that permanency outcomes are more properly analyzed as competing risks. Recommendations for future research are suggested.