A recent study in Sweden followed children in more than 21,000 cases of child abuse or neglect allegations. Part of the sample went to foster care, the others were allowed to stay in their homes.
It found that though the two groups were no worse off to
begin with, by age 20, the foster children were more than four times more
likely to have died than the children allowed to stay with their families.
We’re not talking about a small difference: the study finds that if a child
facing the prospect of being taken into care is indeed removed from their home,
the risk of dying by the year they turn 20 increases from 1.8% to 8.6%. ...
