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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‘We are the same as everyone else just with a different and unique backstory’: Identity, belonging and ‘othering’ within education for young people who are ‘looked after’

Lisa Jones, Charlotte Dean, Ally Dunhill, Max A. Hope, Patricia A. Shaw - Children & Society, 06 Apr 2020

This paper develops understandings of how being publicly identified and consequently labelled as ‘looked after’ can have damaging consequences for young people, particularly in how they are perceived by their peers in the context of schooling.

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The intersection and parallels of Aboriginal peoples’ and racialized migrants’ experiences of colonialism and child welfare in Canada

Jennifer Ma - International Social Work, 06 Apr 2020

This comparative analysis will illuminate how injustices continue to be reproduced, focusing on the child welfare system, as part of the devastating effects that colonization has on Aboriginal peoples, but also as evidence of colonization being reproduced through current discriminatory legislation and practices.

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Support needs and satisfaction of Flemish foster parents in long-term foster care: Associated characteristics of foster children, foster parents and foster placements

Johan Vanderfaeillie, Laura Gypen, Delphine West, Frank Van Holen - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Apr 2020

This study aims at identifying characteristics of foster children, foster parents and foster placements associated with low satisfaction and high support needs.

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Adverse Childhood Experience histories in foster parents: Connections to foster children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties

Tina Adkins, Samantha Reisz, Kaitlyn Doerge, Swetha Nulu - Child Abuse & Neglect, 06 Apr 2020

This study addressed three research questions: (1) What are ACE totals in this sample of foster parents and how do they compare with the original CDC-Kaiser study? (2) Does foster parents’ ACE exposure relate to foster child behavior? (3) Is the relation between foster parents’ ACEs and children’s challenging behaviors different based on the specific ACE?

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Foster and kinship carer experiences of accessing healthcare: A qualitative study of barriers, enablers and potential solutions

Karen Mclean Conceptualisation, Jessica Clarke, Dorothy Scott, Harriet Hiscock, Sharon Goldfeld - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Apr 2020

This paper explores the experiences of Victorian foster and kinship carers accessing timely health assessment and ongoing healthcare for a child placed in their care; identifying barriers and enablers.

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Foster and kinship carer experiences of accessing healthcare: A qualitative study of barriers, enablers and potential solutions

Karen Mclean Conceptualisation, Jessica Clarke, Dorothy Scott, Harriet Hiscock, Sharon Goldfeld - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Apr 2020

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Voices about foster care: The value of trust

Janna C. Heyman, Linda White-Ryan, Peggy Kelly, G. Lawrence Farmer, Tara Linh Leaman, Henry J. Davis - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Apr 2020

This qualitative study utilized the experiential voices of current and former youth in foster care, caregivers, and agency staff to broaden the understanding of the needs of youth with foster care histories, as well as provide a contextual lens for exploring potential risk factors leading to homelessness.

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Financial Challenges Faced by Caregivers of Orphans in Kitui Central Sub-County, Kitui County, Kenya

Jacinta M. Mwinzi, Prof. Nephat J. Kathuri, Dr. J.M. Kinzi - International Journal of Education and Research, 04 Apr 2020

The purpose of this study was to determine the financial challenges faced by caregivers of orphans in Kitui Central Subcounty, Kitui County, Kenya.

Reconciling care and justice in contesting social harm through performance and arts practice with looked after children and care leavers

Tonimarie Benaton, Tamsin Bowers‐Brown, Thomas Dodsley, Alix Manning‐Jones, Jade Murden, Alexander Nunn, The Plus One Community - Children & Society, 04 Apr 2020

This paper reports findings from an innovative arts‐based intervention with Looked After Children and young people and concludes that holding these competing value sets in creative tension is central to the success of the programme in helping young people to cope with and contest social harm.

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‘Do I read it? No’. Knowledge utilisation in child welfare decisions.

Paul McCafferty - Child Care in Practice, 03 Apr 2020

This article presents findings from an exploratory in-depth qualitative research project with the objective of exploring the knowledge that social workers use to make decisions regarding permanency arrangements for Looked after Children.

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