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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Educational stability policy and the interplay between child welfare placements and school moves

Elysia V. Clemens, Kristin Klopfenstein, Matt Tis, Trent L. Lalonde - Children and Youth Services Review, 07 Nov 2017

The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of school moves that can be reduced through implementation of the educational stability provisions of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (FCA, 2008) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), and to identify opportunities to minimize the number of transitions that children and youth in foster care experience in the US.

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The Changing Face of Out-of-home Care in Australia – Developing Policy and Practice for the 21st Century

Meredith Kiraly and Cathy Humphreys - Children Australia, 06 Nov 2017

This Opinion Piece traces the rise of statutory kinship care in Australia from the progressive reduction of residential care and the struggle to recruit sufficient foster carers to meet demand for protective care.

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Concept mapping the needs of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders

Frank Van Holen, Julie Van Loock, Laurence Belenger, Johan Vanderfaeillie - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Nov 2017

Concept mapping was used to identify the needs of grandparents who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders (Dutch speaking part of Belgium).

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Independence and effectiveness: Messages from the role of Independent Reviewing Officers in England

Chris Beckett, Jonathan Dickens, Gillian Schofield, Georgia Philip and Julie Young - Children and Youth Services Review , 05 Nov 2017

The paper draws on a mixed methods study the role and effectiveness of Independent Reviewing Officers in England.

Estimating minimum adequate foster care costs for children in the United States

HaksoonAhn, Diane DePanfilis, Kevin Frick, Richard P. Barth - Children and Youth Services Review, 03 Nov 2017

The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to establish foster care minimum adequate rates for children (MARC) based on the child's age and geographical location in every state; update the MARC with cost of living adjustments to 2016; examine changes in gaps between the MARC and the current foster care rates; and identify states that have made increases to their reimbursement rates, relative to the MARC over time.

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Temperamental sensitivity to early maltreatment and later family cohesion for externalizing behaviors in youth adopted from foster care

Irene Tung, Amanda N. Noroña, Steve S. Lee, Audra K. Langley, Jill M.Waterman - Child Abuse and Neglect, 03 Nov 2017

This study examined predictions of externalizing behaviors (EB) from childhood to adolescence/young adulthood from temperament, preadoption maltreatment, and adoptive family cohesion.

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Estimating minimum adequate foster care costs for children in the United States

Haksoon Ahn, Diane DePanfilis, Kevin Frick, Richard P. Barth - Children and Youth Services Review, 03 Nov 2017

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Children admitted to out-of-home care

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 01 Nov 2017

This bulletin presents previously unpublished Australian national trends in the number and rate of children admitted to out-of-home-care by age and Indigenous status, from 2011–12 to 2015–16.