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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A systematic review of the effectiveness of interagency and cross-system collaborations in the United States to improve child welfare outcomes

Ijeoma Nwabuzor Ogbonnaya & Annie J. Keeney - Children and Youth Services Review, 10 Oct 2018

The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the effects of interagency and cross-system collaboration aimed to improve child welfare-involved children and family outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being.

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Handbook of Infant Mental Health: Fourth Edition

Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., 09 Oct 2018

This volume examines typical and atypical development from birth to the preschool years and identifies what works in helping children and families at risk.

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“I’ve changed so much within a year”: care leavers' perspectives on the aftercare planning process

Natalie Glynn & Paula Mayock - Child Care in Practice , 08 Oct 2018

This paper examines young people’s experiences of the aftercare planning process in Ireland drawing on data from the first phase of a qualitative longitudinal study of young people leaving care.

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Getting by and getting ahead: Social capital and transition to college among homeless and foster youth

Kim Skobba, David Meyers, Lori Tiller - Children and Youth Services Review, 04 Oct 2018

This qualitative study examines the academic pathways of 33 college students with a history or foster care placement, homelessness, or both, to better understand the ways in which forms of social capital influence the transition to college and early college experiences in the US.

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Vaccine coverage of children in care of the child welfare system

Jennifer S. Hermann, Kimberley A. Simmonds, Christopher A. Bell, Ellen Rafferty, Shannon E. MacDonald - Canadian Journal of Public Health, 03 Oct 2018

The purpose of this study was to assess vaccine coverage for a cohort of children who have been in the care of the child welfare system compared to children in the general population in Alberta, Canada.

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Handbook for Foster Parents

SUKA Society, UNHCR (Malaysia), 01 Oct 2018

This Handbook explains the processes of the Foster Care Programme based on the “Manual on Foster Care for UASC”, which sets the minimum standards for providing foster care for children without parents or an adult to care for them in Malaysia.

Entangled Roots: The Role of Race in Policies that Separate Families

Elisa Minoff - Center for the Study of Social Policy, 01 Oct 2018

By examining the roots of policies that separate families and their entanglement with racial prejudice and discrimination, this report makes the case that we must embrace an alternative path.

Handbook for Foster Care Agency

SUKA Society, UNHCR (Malaysia), 01 Oct 2018

This handbook was developed specifically to create a Foster Care Programme for unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) within the Rohingya community in Malaysia. Article 20 (Children deprived of family environment) and Article 22 (Refugee children) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) require that special care arrangements and protection are provided for UASC while preserving their ethnicity, religion, culture and language. In the case of Rohingya UASC, this calls for a special Foster Care Programme where these children are placed under the care of families from the Rohingya refugee community.

Supporting the implementation of Council Tax exemption for Scotland’s care leavers: Good practice note

Kenny McGhee - CELCIS, 01 Oct 2018

This practice note is drawn from the discussion and outlines key considerations and a range of measures for local authorities to take as Corporate Parents to ensure consistent and effective implementation of the regulations, now established in law.

Handbook for Children in Foster Care: Away From Home, and All Alone - Helping Displaced Children Understand Foster Care

SUKA Society, UNHCR Malaysia, 01 Oct 2018

This is a child-friendly summary of a handbook developed specifically to create a Foster Care Programme for unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) within the Rohingya community in Malaysia.