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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Primera infancia en familia: Guía de experiencias de referencia para la preservación de los vínculos tempranos

RELAF y UNICEF, 01 Feb 2015

Esta Guía reúne una serie de programas, prácticas y políticas públicas que resultaron en la garantía del derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de niñas y niños en su primera infancia. En particular, se caracterizan por ser innovadoras o por haber obtenido buenos resultados en la protección y la restitución de este derecho. Las experiencias recopiladas abarcan programas, proyectos e iniciativas públicas, privadas o mixtas de fortalecimiento familiar, provisión de cuidados alternativos, y de reintegración familiar.

A Social Worker’s Tool Kit for Working With Immigrant Families: Healing the Damage: Trauma and Immigrant Families in the Child Welfare System

The Center on Immigration and Child Welfare, 01 Feb 2015

This toolkit, originally published in September 2010 and updated in February 2015, serves as a resource for social workers in the US who are working with immigrant families within the child welfare system.

Child Welfare Outcomes for Youth in Care as a Result of Parental Death or Parental Incarceration

Terry V. Shaw, Charlotte Lyn Bright, Tanya L. Sharpe - Child Abuse & Neglect , 30 Jan 2015

This study examines the outcomes for children in the U.S. foster care system who have been placed into care due to parental death and parental incarceration.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Poor Mental Health Outcomes Among Racially Diverse Foster Care Alumni: Impact of Perceived Agency Helpfulness

Antonio R. Garcia, Kirk O’Brien, Minseop Kim, Peter J. Pecora, Tracy Harachi and Eugene Aisenberg - Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23 Jan 2015

This study examines the influence of a subset of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), placement instability, and childhood disability in uniquely predicting mental health outcomes among racially diverse foster care alumni from a private foster care agency in the US.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Poor Mental Health Outcomes Among Racially Diverse Foster Care Alumni: Impact of Perceived Agency Helpfulness - Online First - Springer

SHAME ON U.S. - Failings by All Three Branches of Our Federal Government Leave Abused and Neglected Children Vulnerable to Further Harm

Children’s Advocacy Institute of the University of San Diego School of Law , 2015

This study, produced by the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the San Diego School of Law, examines the activities of the federal government of the United States in regards to enacting and enforcing child welfare laws and ensuring that individual states are complying with minimum federal standards for child protection.

Ending Institutionalisation: An analysis of the financing of the deinstitutionalisation process in Bulgaria

Georgette Mulheir - Lumos, 2015

According to this report from Lumos, in 2010 there were more than 6,700 children living in institutions in Bulgaria.

A public health approach to enhancing safe and supportive family environments for children

Daryl J. Higgins - Australian Institute of Family Studies, Family Matters 2015 No. 96, 2015

This report proposes a public health approach to promoting safe and supportive family environments for children and preventing child maltreatment in Australia.

Missing Children, State Care, and Child Sex Trafficking: Engaging the Judiciary in Building a Collaborative Response

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2015

This technical assistance brief answers the question “What steps can a judge take when a child runs away or goes missing from care?” The brief is intended to educate juvenile and family court judges in the United States on the steps to be taken to assist in in locating and recovering children who go missing from care.

Moving to My New Home: A Book for Children to Explain What will Happen During the Time the Institution is Closing

Lumos, 2015

The aim of this book is to explain to children what to expect during the time the institution in which they reside is closing.

Strategies for Delivering Safe and Effective Foster Care: A Review of the Evidence for Those Designing and Delivering Foster Care Programmes

Ghazal Keshavarzian, Family for Every Child , 2015

This report from Family for Every Child begins to fill the gap in understanding on how to deliver effective, safe foster care programmes through an exploration of the literature and interviews with experts.