Foster Care | Better Care Network

Foster Care

The term “foster care” is used in a variety of ways, and, consequently, it often causes confusion and miscommunication. In the industrialized world it is generally used to refer to formal, temporary placements made by the State with families that are trained, monitored and compensated at some level. In many developing countries, however, fostering is kinship care or other placement with a family, the objective(s) of which may include the care of the child, the child’s access to education, and/or the child’s doing some type of work for the foster family.

Such care is informal and unregulated by the State. Foster care can also be understood as formal care, typically provided by adults who are not related to the child, but may include formalized kinship care. It is usually for a limited period until the child can return home or move into a more permanent placement such as adoption.

In emergency situations, such as armed conflict, informal fostering often occurs spontaneously when a family takes in an unaccompanied child. Also, in some emergency situations, agencies have organized a quasi-formal type of foster care to ensure immediate, family-based care for unaccompanied children. Such foster care should be formally arranged by the local authority or child protection organisation and include assessing each child’s best interests; screening, training, and monitoring of caretakers; and planning for the longer term needs of each child.

Foster care can provide the advantages of family-based care within a child’s own community. In some situations, particularly spontaneous care initiated during an emergency, it can become de facto adoption in settings where State child protection services and formalization of care arrangements are very limited or do not exist.

Foster care plays an important role in a situation where a child’s own family is not providing adequately for his or her care. It can provide protection and care for the child while the family situation is improved, with the eventual aim of family reunification.

It is vital that children are provided opportunities to express their wishes and concerns regarding with whom they live and have contact. The appointment of a legal guardian is a means of ensuring their opinions are taken into account.

Foster caretakers often receive support to meet the child’s needs and prevent placement breakdown. This may include parenting guidance and access to basic services for the child. Payment for care requires thoughtful consideration and should not encourage the separation of children from their families, or the use of a child for financial gain. All placements should be regulated to ensure the standards of care protect the child and encourage her development.

This body of literature provides examples from around the world of spontaneous, informal and formal fostering. It includes guidance on standards of care and child care policy.

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Using the Deaf Community as an Alternative Treatment Strategy: Developing Deaf Treatment Foster Homes

Stephen H. Hamerdinger & Daniel Murphy - JADARA, 2019

This article gives specific information on a program in Missouri, USA that took the emerging therapeutic foster family approach and added a novel component: training deaf families to become therapeutic foster parents, including how it was established, what problems arose, and what solutions were tried.

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Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in Kenya (2014): A User-friendly Handbook

Department of Children's Services - Republic of Kenya, 2019

This handbook is a key tool for supporting care reform in Kenya, promoting family-based alternative care for children, and moving away from institutional care.

Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children

Bob Lonne, Deb Scott, Daryl Higgins, Todd I. Herrenkohl, 2019

This volume provides readers around the globe with a focused and comprehensive examination of how to prevent and respond to child maltreatment using evidence-informed public health approaches and programs that meet the needs of vulnerable children, and struggling families and communities. Detailed guidance is provided about how to re-think earlier intervention strategies, and establish stronger and more effective programs and services that prevent maltreatment at the population level.

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An exploration of social worker relationships, roles and the wellbeing of children in long-term care

Cartwright, Mim - University of Bristol, 2019

This study explores the social work role with children in long-term care, focusing on how relationships between children and social workers can support wellbeing.

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Family Is Culture: Independent Review of Aboriginal Children and Young People in OOHC

Independent Review of Aboriginal Children in OOHC Team, 2019

This Review is aimed at examining the high rates of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and the implementation of the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP) in this jurisdiction.

Looked after children: embedding attachment awareness in schools

Nigel Fancourt - Education and Self Development, 2019

Attachment theory has been adopted in several educational districts (‘local authorities’) in England, and this study reports on an evaluative mixed-methods research study of such training; it also theorises this as a broader question about how schools engage with research.

Knowledge translation in child welfare—improving educational outcomes for children at risk: study protocol for a hybrid randomized controlled pragmatic trial

Thomas Engell, Ingvild Barbara Follestad, Anne Andersen, Kristine Amlund Hagen - Trials, 29 Dec 2018

The present study is part of a knowledge translation project in collaboration with local CWS with the aim to develop, implement, and evaluate Enhanced Academic Support (EAS) for primary school children in Child Welfare Services (CWS) in Norway.

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Heuristic decision-making in foster care matching: Evidence from a think-aloud study

Kirti Zeijlmans, Mónica López López, Hans Grietens, Erik J. Knorth - Child Abuse & Neglect, 24 Dec 2018

This research explores how decision-making heuristics are used by practitioners to determine which foster family is the best fit for a child.

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Human trafficking victimization among youth who run away from foster care

Natasha E. Latzman, Deborah A. Gibbs, Rose Feinberg, Marianne N. Kluckman, Sue Aboul-Hosn - Children and Youth Services Review, 23 Dec 2018

This paper uses administrative data to describe the characteristics and experiences of a population of youth in the child welfare system considered to be at particularly high risk of victimization: youth who have run away from foster care.

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Identifying effective interventions for promoting parent engagement and family reunification for children in out-of-home care: A series of meta-analyses

Christine Maltais, Chantal Cyr, Geneviève Parent, Katherine Pascuzzo - Child Abuse & Neglect, 19 Dec 2018

The aim of this meta-analysis is to identify the most effective interventions to promote parental engagement and family reunification in high-income countries.

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