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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Mental health services for children in care: investigation to elicit outcomes of direct and indirect interventions

Samuel Deuchar, Pallab Majumder - BJPsych Bulletin, 09 Dec 2020

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of direct therapy and indirect consultation for treating mental health difficulties among looked after children (LAC), and also to identify any demographic or clinical predictor variables for outcomes in this cohort.

Supportive practices: perceptions of interventions targeting parents whose children are placed in out-of-home care

Emelie Shanks and Ylva Spånberger Weitz - Adoption & Fostering, 09 Dec 2020

This article explores birth parents’ views on their needs and perceptions of support delivered by two different interventions: one offering support to individuals and the other providing a parental group.

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The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children who become looked after in Derby City

Heather Peet and Corina Teh - Adoption & Fostering, 09 Dec 2020

This article compares the needs and background characteristics of children who became looked after by an English local authority between April and July in 2019 and the same three months in 2020, with the aim of identifying any impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which broke out in March 2020 and continued for some months thereafter.

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Relationships of young adults with foster care backgrounds: Tensions and management strategies

Elli‐Maria Tahkola, Riitta‐Leena Metsäpelto, Maria Ruohotie‐Lyhty, Anna‐Maija Poikkeus - Child & Family Social Work, 08 Dec 2020

The present study focuses on experiences of relational tensions and management strategies in family relationships among 18 young adults with foster care backgrounds who participated in interviews.

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Keep caring: Systemic inquiry into services for young people transitioning from out-of-home care

Commission for Children and Young People, 08 Dec 2020

With young people at the centre, this inquiry examines the needs and aspirations of young people leaving care and the capacity of the service system to respond to those needs and aspirations. The report makes 15 recommendation to enhance the service system’s capacity to improve the experiences and life outcomes for young people transitioning from care by responding to their needs, challenges and aspirations.

Abuse after abuse: The recurrent maltreatment of American Indian children in foster care and adoption

Ashley L. Landers, Sharon M. Danes, Avery R. Campbell, Sandy White Hawk - Child Abuse & Neglect, 08 Dec 2020

This study examined the recurrent maltreatment of American Indian children in foster and adoptive homes, specifically the physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse subtypes, as well as poly-victimization of American Indian children in comparison to their White peers.

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Experienced support from family, school and friends among students in out‐of‐home care in a school‐based community survey

Rikard Tordön, Gunilla Sydsjö, Marie Bladh, Jennie Svanström, Carl Göran Svedin - Child & Family Social Work, 07 Dec 2020

For this study, responses from 311 students in out‐of‐home care (OHC) were compared with peers living in birth parent care (BPC) and in single birth parent care (sBPC) in a regional school survey, directed to students in compulsory school eighth year and upper secondary school second year.

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Beyond the silence: Emotional experiences of adolescents in foster care

Eleanor Ross and Mmathebe Mampane - Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development, 04 Dec 2020

This qualitative study employed individual interviews to explore the emotional experiences of 15 adolescents placed in foster care.

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Child Vulnerabilities And Family-Based Childcare Systems: COVID-19 Challenges Of Foster Care And Adoption In India

Ratna Verma and Rinku Verma - Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, 04 Dec 2020

This article has been developed based on a systematic review of research studies conducted in the last 10 years on family-based childcare systems and a rapid review of research and assessments conducted in 2020 to explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on adoption and foster care in India.

The Permanence and Care Excellence (PACE) programme: Improvement in practice: leading positive change for children’s services

CELCIS, 01 Dec 2020

This report provides an insight into the Permanence and Care Excellence (‘PACE’) programme – a Quality Improvement programme underway from 2014-2020 which engaged with local authority partnerships in 27 of the 32 Scottish local authority areas. The programme was aimed at supporting local authority partnerships across Scotland to reduce permanence planning timescales for looked after infants, children and young people using a Quality Improvement framework.