State Eviction Moratoria and Foster Care Entries
Yi Wang, Liwei Zhang, Lawrence M. BergerIMPORTANCE
Foster care entry is associated with long-term adverse outcomes for children and substantial public costs. Housing hardship is common among child welfare-involved families, and eviction moratoria implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic may have stabilized housing for at-risk families. Little is known about whether population-level housing policies, which are generalizable to the broader population, are associated with foster care entries.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether state eviction moratoria are associated with foster care entries.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This cohort study used a biweekly county panel spanning January 1, 2019, through mid-August 2021, comprising 59 counties across 16 states and Washington, DC (60 jurisdictions total). Counties were categorized as always-treated (states with eviction moratoria continuously in effect from mid-March 2020 through mid-August 2021) or never-treated (states with no statewide moratorium during the study window). A sensitivity analysis expanded the sample to include all-treated vs never-treated counties. Data were analyzed from January 1 to May 29, 2026.
EXPOSURES
State eviction moratorium status in each county-biweekly period.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Biweekly counts of foster care entries overall and by recorded reasons. Adjusted negative binomial difference-in-differences models compared changes in entries in always-treated vs never-treated counties before vs after mid-March 2020, when moratoria were initiated.
RESULTS
The analytic sample comprised 42 always-treated and 18 never-treated jurisdictions. In the primary analysis (always-treated vs never-treated counties), eviction moratoria were associated with a 31% reduction in foster care entries attributed to inadequate housing (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.48-0.99), a 23% reduction in caregiver inability to cope (IRR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.64-0.93), and a 20% reduction in physical abuse (IRR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64-0.99). The findings for total entries were directionally consistent (IRR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.70-1.12) but were not statistically significant. In the expanded analysis (all-treated vs never-treated), caregiver inability to cope (17%; IRR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72-0.96) and inadequate housing (16%; IRR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95) were associated with reductions in foster care entries.
CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE
In this study, state eviction moratoria were associated with fewer foster care entries attributed to inadequate housing, caregiver inability to cope, and physical abuse. These findings suggest that housing stabilization policies may reduce foster care entries through direct housing-related and indirect stress-related pathways.