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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Can States Improve Children’s Health by Preventing Abuse and Neglect?

Ron Haskins, Janet Currie, and Lawrence M. Berger - The Future of Children Policy Brief Spring 2015, 01 Apr 2015

This brief from the Future of Children Journal, a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, outlines the current state of the Child Welfare System in the United States, particularly federal funding to individual states’ child welfare systems.

Permanence for Disabled Children and Young People through Foster Care and Adoption: A Selective Review of International Literature

Vicki Welch, Christine Jones, Kirsten Stalker, Alasdair Stewart - Children and Youth Services Review, 25 Mar 2015

This review of literature covers international material related to stability and permanence for disabled children, in particular permanence achieved through fostering and adoption.

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At What Age Do Young People Become Adults?

Monica Dowling & Courtney Hougham - Criminal Justice Matters , 16 Mar 2015

In this brief article, the authors make their case for extending the age limit for young people to receive care in the foster care system, focusing on the UK and the US.

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The Experience of Receiving and Delivering Consultation in a Residential Childcare Setting for Looked-after and Accommodated Children

Katie Durka & Thomas Hacker - Child Care in Practice , 12 Mar 2015

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of consultation in three residential childcare settings in the UK.

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Deaf and Disabled Children Talking About Child Protection

Julie Taylor, Audrey Cameron, Christine Jones, Anita Franklin, Kirsten Stalker, Deborah Fry - University of Edinburgh/NSPCC , 01 Mar 2015

This report summarises the findings of original research commissioned by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the UK carried out by the University of Edinburgh/NSPCC Child Protection Research Centre to address a significant gap in current understandings of deaf and disabled children and young people's experiences of the child protection system.

Not All Children in Foster Care Who Were Enrolled in Medicaid Received Required Health Screenings

Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General - Department of Health and Human Services , 01 Mar 2015

The Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services in the USA conducted a study, focused on four states in the US, to determine whether children in foster care received initial and periodic health screenings as established in each State’s plan.

Support Matters: Lessons from the Field on Services for Adoptive, Foster, and Kinship Care Families

AdoptUSKids, 01 Mar 2015

This guide is intended to equip State, Tribal, and Territorial child welfare managers and administrators — as well as family support organizations — with current information about effective strategies for developing data-driven family support services and research findings to help them make the case for implementing and sustaining these services.

Out of Care, into University: Raising Higher Education Access and Achievement of Care Leavers

Dr Andrew Harvey, Dr Patricia McNamara, Lisa Andrewartha, and Michael Luckman - LaTrobe University Access & Achievement Research Unit , 01 Mar 2015

This report aims to provide the basis for an agenda to improve university attendance among care leavers in Australia by highlighting the nature and extent of the problem, and suggesting practical solutions within both the education and community service sectors.

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History of Foster Care among Homeless Adults with Mental Illness in Vancouver, British Columbia: A Precursor to Trajectories of Risk

Michelle L Patterson, Akm Moniruzzaman, Julian M Somers - BMC Psychiatry , 26 Feb 2015

This study examines the relationship between foster care placement as a predictor of adult substance use disorders (including frequency, severity and type), mental illness, vocational functioning, service use and duration of homelessness among a sample of homeless adults with mental illness.

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Alternative Care for Children in Uganda

Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, Uganda , 20 Feb 2015

This easy to use resource from the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development in Uganda, in consultation with civil society, outlines a continuum of care framework for responding to vulnerable children.

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