Youth Re-entry into Out-of-Home Replacement
Executive Summary
When a child or youth enters out-of-home placement, one of the primary goals of the New Hampshire Division for Children Youth and Families (DCYF) in the Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) is to maintain a stable environment. With more stable living situations, fewer youth re-enter into child protective and juvenile justice placements. DCYF maintains data on all youth in out-of-home care in New Hampshire, which can be analyzed in support of the goal of formulating strategies to reduce re-entry. This report provides background on DCYF programs and examines data on all youth placed in out-of-home care in New Hampshire between 2003 and 2012. Descriptive and multivariate analyses are used to identify determinants of re-entry. The results highlight several factors associated with higher and lower likelihoods of re-entry, including county of residence, age, and, under some conditions, ethnicity.