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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In Locos Parentis: To deliver the best for looked after children, the state must be a confident parent

Celia Hannon, Claudia Wood, Louise Bazalgette , 2010

This report by the UK-based independent think tank, Demos, considers what the UK care system would look like if it were reconfigured to avoid the delay, instability, and abrupt transitions many young people experience. It demonstrates how this type of system could also be less costly to the states in both the short and long term.

Children in Alternative Care: National Surveys 2nd edition

Eurochild Secretariat, 2010

In 2009 Eurochild carried out a survey of the situation of children in alternative care in Europe through its member organisations. The survey was not intended as a scientifically rigorous research exercise but rather to identify what information is readily available and to note some common trends across Europe.

Because We Care: Programming Guidance for Children Deprived of Parental Care

Elizabeth Oswald, 30 Nov 2009

Provides recommendations for World Vision and partner agencies on general alternative care principles and analysis of alternative care models.

Keeping Children Out of Harmful Institutions

Corinna Csaky, Save the Children UK, 24 Nov 2009

Examines the latest evidence of the harm institutional care can cause to children. It explores why governments and donors continue to prioritize institutional care, despite the harm it can cause.

Development of Alternative Services, including Foster Care, within the Framework of Reforming Child Protection System

UNICEF, Nelly Petrova-Dimitrova, 20 Nov 2009

The following is a summary of the Bulgarian experience in implementing a comprehensive reform of the care and protection system for children at-risk.

Missing: Children without Parental Care in International Development Policy

EveryChild, 19 Nov 2009

Explores the negative impacts of loss of parental care on children. Advocates for reform for children based on assertion that failure to keep children in families, out of residential institutions and off the streets, will be another barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

Children and young people in care: Discover your rights!

Council of Europe, 01 Nov 2009

This booklet is designed for children and young people in care to explain how alternative care works, what their rights are as young people in care and whether these rights are being respected.

Every child deserves a family: EveryChild's approach to children without parental care

Emily Delap , 01 Nov 2009

This document outlines EveryChild’s approach to the growing problem of children without parental care by defining key concepts, analysing the nature and extent of the problem, exploring factors which place children at risk of losing parental care, and examining the impact of a loss of parental care on children’s rights.