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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FairStart Online Training on working with Young Children in Residential or Foster Care

FairStart , 16 Feb 2013

FairStart Training is a free 15 step online program developed by a child psychologists in Denmark, in collaboration with a team of childcare professionals, with support from the European Commission. It is a development program that aims to improve the professional care giving skills of those working with young people in public care (focused on children aged 0-3) through daily practices and organizational development.

fairstart

The Future Begins in the Family

Partnerships for Every Child, Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family of Moldova, Ministry of Education of Moldova, USAID, VIITORUL, 01 Feb 2013

This 10-page newsletter, translated into English, is issue number two of a series produced by the “Protecting children of Moldova from family separation, violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation” project, which is implemented by Partnerships for Every Child, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family of Moldova, and the Ministry of Education of Moldova.

Nepal: Kinship Care at Community is Better Model to Ensure Psychosocial and Economic Security of Orphans Living with HIV than from Care Homes

Acharya SL, Pokhrel BR, Ayer R, Belbase P, Ghimire M, Gurung O, 29 Jan 2013

The objective of this study was to investigate which model of care and support is more appropriate for improving psychosocial and economic security of AIDS orphans in Nepal.

Turning away from the public sector in children's out-of-home care: An English experiment

Nicky Stanley, Helen Austerberry, Andy Bilson, Nicola Farrelly, Shereen Hussein, Cath Larkins, Jill Manthorpe, Julie Ridley - Children and Youth Services Review, 02 Jan 2013

This paper reports on the evaluation of an English experiment which, for the first time, moved statutory social work support for children and young people in out-of-home care from the public to the private or independent sector.

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Orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Crisis, the Interventions, and the Anthropologist

Bright Drah , 2013

In this paper, the author argues that the response to the orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has focused mainly on mobilizing and distributing material resources to households with orphans. Only a few anthropologists have interrogated the frameworks and values on which the projects for orphans are based. The paper provides an analysis of the trends in foster-care research in Africa and the author suggests that current ethnographic data on foster-care practices do not adequately reflect the changing context of fostering in that continent.

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The Challenge of Reforming Child Protection in Eastern Europe: The Cases of Hungary and Romania

Roxana Anghel, Maria Herczog, Gabriela Dima, 2013

This paper discusses the challenges of reforming the child welfare and protection systems in Hungary and Romania -two countries in transition from socialism to capitalism- and the impact on children, young people, families, and professionals. The focus is on the efforts made to deinstitutionalise children from large institutions, develop local prevention services, and develop alternatives to institutional care.

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Foster Family Renewed Hope and New Life: A Study on the Practice of Foster Care in India

BOSCO National Research and Documentation Centre, 2013

This study, a first of its kind in the country as far as we could ascertain, focuses on the foster care services provided by various organisations and institutions in India.

A Snapshot of Alternative Care Arrangements in Tanzania

SOS Children’s Villages, 2013

This report and research conducted by SOS Children’s Villages reviews alternative care arrangements in Tanzania.

El proceso de transición a la vida adulta de jóvenes acogidos en el sistema de protección infantil

Mónica López, Iriana Santos, Amaia Bravo y Jorge F. del Valle - anales de psicología, 2013

En este artículo se revisan diversas investigaciones de carácter nacional de España e internacional sobre los adolescentes que egresan del sistema de protección.

The situation of foster care in Argentina: A preliminary report

Matilde Luna, Mara Tissera Luna & María Sánchez Brizuela, 2013

This preliminary report analyzes the practice of foster care in Argentina. The material will be useful for the development of foster care services in the Latin American region, due to the fact that the situation of foster care in Argentina can be seen as a model of the current regional context.