E-TEAM’s Sr. Research Associate, Dr. Sarah Connelly, recently published an article in Children and Youth Services Review. The study examines how placement instability in out-of-home care shapes children’s emotional and behavioral well-being for both internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalizing (e.g., aggression, conduct) symptoms. Using national longitudinal data, Dr. Connelly and her co-authors highlight the complex, bidirectional relationship between placement changes and child outcomes, underscoring the importance of trauma history, social supports, and peer relationships in shaping resilience. This study challenges assumptions about foster care placement instability by showing that placement changes do not uniformly worsen children’s behaviors and may, in some cases, lead to improvements, highlighting the need for trauma-informed and gender-responsive supports to better address children’s behavioral health. Congratulations to Dr. Connelly on this significant achievement – an important contribution to advancing child welfare research and practice!