Receptive Vocabulary Development of Children Placed in Foster Care and Children Who Remained With Birth Parents After Involvement With Child Protective Services.

Maltreated children often have early language delays that affect later learning, behaviour and social skills, but it has been unclear whether foster care helps. Among young children involved with child protective services, those in foster care had higher receptive vocabulary at ages three and four than those who stayed with their birth parents. The difference disappeared after accounting for caregiver education, marital status and household income, which suggests that the household’s resources may explain much of the difference. Birth parents may benefit from more support for interactions that promote their children’s language development.