Abstract
Understanding child welfare social workers’ perceptions on how placement stability or instability impacts foster youths’ well-being is imperative to improving care for children in child welfare. This study sought to describe social workers’ perceptions about placement stability or instability in relationship to demographic variables, including age, years of experience, educational background, and ethnicity. This quantitative survey research descriptive study design included a sample of 33 persons who participated in a questionnaire containing Likert-scale statements and questions about beliefs surrounding the impact of placement stability or instability and foster youths’ well-being, such as familial and peer relationships, permanency outcomes, and behavioral challenges. A non-probability convenience sampling was used. Participants reported their perceptions on placement stability or instability as it pertains to foster youth and their outcomes. The study discovered that age, using Fisher's exact-test, was approaching a significant relationship to the belief that resource families have enough training and experience. No other demographic variables showed significant findings. Implications for social work policy and practice are discussed.