In the best interest of the child.

Background: The Best Interest of the Child Questionnaire (BIC-Q) has been designed as an instrument for screening the quality of the rearing situation of asylum-seeking children. It is intended to aid legal decisions in asylum procedures. Aim: Aim of this study was to determine the reliability and the construct validity of the BIC-Q. Method: Based on a study sample of asylum-seeking children in the Netherlands (N = 74), the psychometric quality of the BIC-Q was investigated using Cohen’s kappa for the interand intrarater reliability and a nonparametric Item Response Model for the construct validity. Results: The interrater and intrarater reliabilities of the BIC-Q were good (kappa = .65 and .74 resp.). The results of the IRT Model revealed that the fourteen pedagogical environmental conditions formed a strong and valid measurement scale for the quality of the childrearing environment (H = .55; Rho = .94). Implications for practice: Preliminary results indicate that the BIC-Q may be applied to support decisions on where the asylum-seeking child has the best opportunities for development. This chapter is based on: Zijlstra, A. E., Kalverboer, M. E., Post, W. J., Knorth E. J., & Ten Brummelaar, M. D. C. (2011). The quality of the childrearing environment of refugee or asylum-seeking children and the best interest of the child: Reliability and validity of the BIC-Q. Behavioral Science and The Law, 28, doi: 10.1002/bsl.1998.