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African American families are disproportionately overrepresented in the U.S. foster care system, with African American children remaining in foster care longer and receive fewer services while in care than white children. Prior literature on racial disparities in the foster care system is limited; while African American children are more likely than non-black children to be involved in the foster care system, experience multiple placements, and to have a more difficult time finding permanency, it is unclear why such disparities exist. The present study examines 141 children in foster care exploring demographic variables, parental risk factors, types of abuse suffered, number of out-of-home placements, and the child's final placement. Findings suggest that African American and older children are more likely to encounter disparities when involved in the foster care system. Specifically, when compared to non-black children, African American children are more likely to be permanently removed from their parent's home. Additionally, older children are likely to have parents that experience multiple parental risk factors. The number of out-of-home placements and number of parental risk factors are the strongest predictors of permanent removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Successful aging has been defined in various ways that include the absence of disease or disability (physical and/or mental), adjustments or adaptations to life stressors, subjective well-being and other quality of life outcomes. The purpose of this empirical study is to expand the existing literature by examining the key antecedents of the components of positive philosophies of life for successful aging as a quality of life outcome. We hypothesize that despite an increase of disabling health problems in later life, retaining internal resources and proactive adaptations has a direct effect on the meaningfulness of positive philosophies of life.Methods. Data analysis is based on an on-going longitudinal study of 1,000 community-dwelling older adults in Florida with cross-sectional data drawn from the year 1997 (time wave 8). The data was collected by face-to-face interviews with a total sample of 444 older adults. Analysis was conducted to test the strength and direction of the relationships as well as identify net effects of each predictor and to estimate the direct and indirect effects of these predictors. In addition, the analysis provides the goodness-of-fit for the respective components of the model.Results. The correlation analyses suggest that older adults with fewer IADL difficulties have higher self-esteem, participate in more social activities, and have more positive philosophies of life. However, the key predictors of positive philosophies of life are self-esteem, social activities and gender. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What roles do the various actors play in the permanency plight of children in the U.S. foster care system? Within the U.S. foster care system there are three main actors, the children awaiting permanency through adoption, the potential adoptive families and the social workers. The children are predominately older and African American (U.S. DHHS 2008). Additional hurtles to linking children awaiting adoption to prospective families are health conditions, disabilities, behavioral problems and being part of large sibling groups (Jee et al. 2006; Hegar 2005; Howard, Livingston Smith and Ryan 2004). Potential adoptive families are seeking children that mirror a biological child. Many are driven to adoption due to infertility and stigma associated with childlessness. Adopting a child that has a different outward appearance will increase the stigma which they are seeking to relieve through adoption (Gibson 2009; Fisher 2003). Social workers are guided by the institution of child social welfare. Regulations govern their actions and compliance must be maintained (Stein 2006). High caseloads and social worker turnover complicate the process of linking children with families (Ryan et al. 2006). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]