TDM meeting characteristics were recorded by staff and entered into a database that keeps track of the meeting attendance, time and place, whether anyone disrupted the meeting, links to services and supports, and recommendations. Unique identifiers in this database allow the children’s TDM records to be matched with their foster care records.   A matched file was created that included 1,219 children who had an initial custody TDM in 2002.

Of the 1,219 children studied, 47 percent were initially placed in foster care, 43 percent with non-licensed relatives, 2 percent in an institution, and 8 percent in other settings (including hospitals and temporary shelters).  Attendance at TDM meetings after which the children were placed with relatives was higher than TDM meetings after which the children were placed in foster care and the difference was primarily due to higher relative attendance at relative placement TDM meetings.  Preliminary logistic regression analysis revealed that TDM meetings with relatives attending were seven more times likely to result in a placement with relatives than placement in foster care.

Although this study cannot establish a causal relationship between relative attendance and relative placement, the strong relationship between the two was shared with agency staff and used to discuss how to use TDM to promote relative placement.