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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The State of Foster Care: Putting Families First

The Economist, 2005

Economist article which argues for changes in US federal welfare funding to maintain family unity and reduce the numbers of children entering into foster care.

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Community-Based Foster Homes in Ethiopia: An Account of a Follow-Up Experience Ten Years After Phase-Out

Elizabeth Jareg, 2005

A description of the programmatic steps taken in establishing a community-based foster home in Ethiopia and an evaluative follow-up on these children ten years later

The Lost Ones: Emergency Care And Family Tracing for Children from Birth to Five Years

Marie de la Soudière, Jan Williamson, and Jacqueline Botte, 2005

A manual primarily concerned with the prevention of separation of children during emergencies. It provides a field-oriented guide to solve problems specific to emergency care and tracing and family reunification of babies and children five years and younger.

Early Childhood Matters: Children Without Parental Care: Qualitative Alternatives

Teresa Moreno and Jan van Dongen (eds.), 2005

Collection of articles highlighting suggestions on how to improve existing mechanisms for providing adequate care. Major article on the current state of international thinking on children without parental care.

Transnational Fosterage of War-Affected Children in West Africa: Immediate Coping Capacities Across Borders

Susan Shepler, 2005

A research study conducted with refugee children from Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, and their foster caregivers in rural Guinea. Explores the experiences of both children and foster caregivers, and examines the role of ethnicity, gender and education. Highlights the significant capacity of a community to provide protection and care of refugee children, and offers recommendation for future research and programming.

Orphans and Discrimination in Mozambique: An Outlay Equivalence Analysis

Virgulino Nhate, Channing Arndt, Mikkel Barslund and Katleen Van den Broeck, 2005

This paper examines childcare policy in Mozambique. It finds that vulnerability increases when orphans are placed in resource-poor kinship care arrangements.

Risk, Network Quality, and Family Structure: Child Fostering Decisions in Burkina Faso

Richard Akresh, 31 Dec 2004

Analyzes household decisions to send and receive children via fostering. Results show fostering used as a social protection mechanism to cope with income shock (sending) and address family labor shortages (receiving).

Attachment in Institutionalized and Community Children in Romania

Charles H. Zeanah, Anna T. Smyke, Sebastian F. Koga, Elizabeth Carlson, 31 Dec 2004

This study examined attachment in institutionalized and community children 12 – 31 months of age in Bucharest, Romania.

Children in Institutions: Prevention and Alternative Care: Final Report

Bragi Gudbrandsson, Working Group on Children at Risk in Care, Council of Europe, 19 May 2004

A comparative analysis of protection and care systems across Europe, focusing on the use of institutions, alternative forms of care placements, family support services, and the role of social workers in the process of child placement.

The Future of Children: A Collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and The Brookings Institute

Princeton University and the Brookings Institute, 17 May 2004

In assessing the practice of foster care in the US and its current limitations, this series of articles advocates for the implementation of health assessments for all children in care, support to preserve permanency and assist birth families, comprehensive supports for foster families, specialized services for children in need, increased cultural competency in social work practice, coordinated services across sectors for families in need and comprehensive well being assessments for children in care.