Code for: "Effects of Enhanced Legal Aid in Child Welfare: Evidence from a Randomized Trial of Mi Abogado"

Children spend years in foster care, and there are concerns that bureaucratic hurdles contribute to unnecessarily long stays. Mi Abogado (My Lawyer) was introduced in Chile to enhance legal aid for foster children to accelerate family reunification. In a novel approach to policy making, the Chilean government randomized the introduction of the program for children living in institutions to evaluate effects on child wellbeing. Using registry data, we find that exposure to the program significantly reduced the duration of foster care without increasing subsequent maltreatment and placements, leading to substantial cost savings. The exposure also decreased criminal justice involvement and improved school attendance. The results show that investing in improvements to foster care services can improve child wellbeing in a cost-effective way.