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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Understanding Vulnerability: a Study on Situations that Affect Family Separation and the Lives of Children in and out of Family Care

Irwanto & Santi Kusumaningrum, Center on Child Protection University of Indonesia PUSKAPA UI , 01 May 2014

This report presents analysis and key findings from a study aimed at fully understanding the situations of children in Indonesia that may lead to family separation.

Christianity’s Commitments to Nurturing and Protecting Children: Biblical Foundations

Mary J. Bunge - Child Abuse and Neglect Journal, Volume 38, Issue 4, 30 Apr 2014

This article provides examples from the Christian Bible to suggest that Christianity offers many principles and mandates that promote Christians to protect and nurture children.

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Out of home care in Norway and Sweden - similar and different

Elisabeth Backe-Hansen, Ingrid Højer, Yvonne Sjöblom, Jan Storø, 15 Apr 2014

This article provides an overview of the current situation in the out-of-home care in Norway and Sweden. Development in later years is described and discussed, including the trends towards privatization of the welfare system in both countries and the role of private, commercial actors within the care sector including out-of-home care for children and young people.

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Family Group Conferencing and Kinship Care: Australasian perspectives

Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne, 01 Apr 2014

This webinar presentation by Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne introduces the history and background of Family Group Conference (FGC) in New Zealand and Australia and discusses the influence of FGC on the development of formal or statutory kinship care in the region.

Australia: Whose responsibility is it? Supporting the needs of informal kinship care

Professor Marie Connolly, 28 Mar 2014

In this presentation Professor Connolly reviews recent trends in the use of kinship care in Australia and discusses what this shift means in the context of the ‘residual’ model of child protection used in the country.

A study of children in institutions offers a perspective on the cognitive benefits of parenting

Mary K. Rothbart and Michael I. Posner, Times Higher Education, 13 Mar 2014

This article reviews a new book by Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox and Charles H. Zeanah who conducted seminal studies in Romania on children who were institutionalised, comparing their developmental and well-being outcomes to children who were placed in foster care or adoptive families.

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Young People Leaving Care: Participatory Research to Improve Child Welfare Practices and the Rights of Children and Young People

Maritta Lea Törrönen & Riitta Helena Vornanen - Australian Social Work, 13 Mar 2014

This paper discusses participatory research with young people who are leaving public care in Finland to begin independent lives.

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Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues on the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk: The Articles in Context

Robert B. McCall, Christina J. Groark and Niels P. Rygaard, 12 Mar 2014

This introductory article of a Special Issue of Infant Mental Health Journal on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk provides a useful overview, placing the articles in the broader contexts of research on institutionalized children and different initiatives to prevent inappropriate care, either through addressing the quality of the care provided or ensuring the appropriateness of the type of care environment provided.

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Psychopathology in Young Children in Two Types of Foster Care Following Institutional Rearing (Romania)

Florin Tibu, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Nathan A. Fox, Charles A. Nelson and Charles H. Zeanah, 12 Mar 2014

Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk. In this study the authors assessed internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 54-month-old children living with foster families in Bucharest, Romania.

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Life after Growing Up in Care: Informing Policy and Practice through Research

Suellen Murray & Jim Goddard, Australian Social Work, 2014 Vol. 67, No. 1, 102–117, 12 Mar 2014

In this review, the authors highlight evidence drawn from research in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and the United States, on the impact of growing up in care beyond the early twenties.

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