Research shows that early childhood maltreatment is associated with significant delays in social and cognitive development. Unfortunately, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, children under age one face the highest risk of maltreatment, particularly neglect. The Child Protective Services (CPS) system is responsible for responding to maltreatment and preventing its recurrence. Most children with substantiated maltreatment reports remain with their parents, and CPS provides services to the parents (including substance use treatment or parenting classes) to rectify the conditions that led to maltreatment. Most foster care entries occur during early childhood, from the newborn period to five years old, but most research on foster care is focused on older children. Debate over the impacts of foster care has persisted for many years, yet little attention has been paid to the timing of children’s entry into foster care.

To remedy the gap in literature, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Pennsylvania State University followed 8,795 Wisconsin children referred to CPS during their first year of life from birth until third grade. They examined the associations between the age of first foster care placement and school test scores, exposure to punitive discipline (suspension), and chronic absenteeism. The findings suggest that compared to no foster care intervention, foster care during early infancy is related to a higher likelihood of demonstrating basic or above reading skills and a lower likelihood of chronic absenteeism.