Entering foster care is an essential intervention for certain children. However, numerous advocates express concern that youths may remain in foster care for extended periods, leading to detrimental effects for those who are momentarily disconnected from a permanent family.
A recent study co-authored by an MIT economist demonstrates that an innovative program in Chile offering legal assistance to children reduces the duration of foster-care placements, facilitating their return to families more swiftly. This initiative not only enhances long-term social outcomes for children but also lowers government expenditures on the foster care framework.
“It was remarkably effective because the initiative expedited children’s exits from foster care by approximately 30 percent,” states Joseph Doyle, an economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who contributed to the research. “Since foster care incurs high costs, it effectively funded the program about four times over. By optimizing case management for children in foster care, we can enhance a child’s quality of life while saving money.”
The document, “Effects of Enhanced Legal Aid in Child Welfare: Evidence from a Randomized Trial of Mi Abogado,” is published in the American Economic Review.
The contributors include Ryan Cooper, a professor and director of government innovation at the University of Chicago; Doyle, who holds the Erwin H. Schell Professorship in Management at MIT Sloan; and Andrés P. Hojman, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Methodological Rigor
To carry out the study, the researchers analyzed the Chilean government’s new initiative “Mi Abogado” — translating to “My Lawyer” — which offered enhanced legal assistance to children in foster care, as well as access to psychologists and social workers. Legal advocates in this program handled a reduced number of cases to allow them to concentrate more effectively on each specific situation.
Chile launched Mi Abogado in 2017, with a feature well-suited for thorough examination: The program randomly selects most of the participants as part of its implementation. Random selection from the pool of children in the foster care system simplifies the identification of its causal effects on future outcomes.
“Few redesigns of foster care are analyzed in such a thorough manner, and we require more of this innovative methodology for policy enhancement,” Doyle remarks.
The experiment included 1,781 children enrolled in Chile’s foster care program in 2019, with 581 chosen for Mi Abogado services; it monitored their progress over more than two years. Almost all participants resided in group foster-care homes.
In addition to the shortened duration in foster care, the Chilean data indicated that children participating in the Mi Abogado program experienced a subsequent 30 percent decrease in interactions with the criminal justice system and a 5 percent rise in school attendance compared to their peers who did not participate.
Despite the promising results, Doyle admits he wishes to analyze further which aspects of the Mi Abogado program yielded the most significant effects — whether it be legal aid, counseling, or other elements.
Potential for Broader Application?
This paper is among many studies Doyle has conducted over his career relating to foster care and associated issues. In an upcoming paper, Doyle and some co-authors report that approximately 5 percent of children in the U.S. experience foster care — a figure that seems to be quite common globally as well.
With various jurisdictions across the U.S. managing their unique foster-care systems, Doyle notes that many stakeholders could benefit from learning about the Mi Abogado program and exploring whether its principles merit testing. While this requires some political determination, Doyle expresses hope that policymakers might be receptive to novel concepts.
After all, he highlights, the effects of the Mi Abogado program appear to be both significant and enduring, making it a compelling case to consider.
Support for this research was partly provided by the MIT Sloan Latin America Office. The Chilean Ministry of Education’s Studies Department made education system data available.