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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State of the Nation’s Foster Care: Impact Report 2020

The Fostering Network, 2020

The Fostering Network's State of the Nation’s Foster Care survey is the largest survey of foster carers in the UK. This impact report lists the positive changes that have happened in the world of fostering since the publication of the State of the Nation 2019 report to the end of 2020.

Familial Attendance at Indian Residential School and Subsequent Involvement in the Child Welfare System Among Indigenous Adults Born During the Sixties Scoop Era

Amy Bombay, Robyn J. McQuaid, Janelle Young, Vandna Sinha, Vanessa Currie, Hymie Anisman, and Kim Matheson - First Peoples Child & Family Review, 2020

Through an online study, the authors of this paper explored the links between familial (parents/grandparents) Indian Residential School (IRS) attendance and subsequent involvement in the child welfare system (CWS) in a non-representative sample of Indigenous adults in Canada born during the Sixties Scoop era.

Case Study on Family-Based Care. ACE Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

Simon Kanyemob, Shoshon Tama, Gabriel Walder - Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE), 2020

The goal of this case study is to demonstrate a working model of family-based care in Zambia which can produce a replicable framework that can be modified for other regions and circumstances.

Trauma-informed care research: Implications for foster care practice

Maria Lotty - Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 2020

This paper examines the implications of trauma-informed care research recently carried out in Ireland.

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Children of Shanghai

Care for Children, 2020

This documentary features China’s first generation of foster children. These young people reveal how they moved on from life in orphanages to achieve success and their foster parents recall their battles to help them overcome prejudice and serious developmental difficulties. The documentary also tells the story of the founding of Care for Children, an organization that has placed almost a million Chinese children from orphanages with local foster families.

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Unaccompanied children in Flemish family foster care. Prevalence and associated factors of placement breakdown

FrankVan Holen, Cindy Blijkers, Lenny Trogh, Delphine West, Johan Vanderfaeillie - Children and Youth Services Review, 29 Dec 2019

This study aimed at investigating the incidence of placement breakdown in Flemish family foster care (Dutch speaking part of Belgium) for unaccompanied children (UC), and to explore the association of breakdown with foster child, foster family and case characteristics.

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Treatment Foster Care Oregon for Delinquent Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Therese Åström, et al - Research on Social Work Practice, 26 Dec 2019

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of Treatment Foster Care on youth with serious behavior problems.

Out‐of‐home care placements of children and adolescents born preterm: A register‐based cohort study

Suvi Alenius, Eero Kajantie, Reijo Sund, Markku Nurhonen, Pieta Näsänen‐Gilmore, Marja Vääräsmäki, Mika Gissler, Petteri Hovi - Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 22 Dec 2019

This population‐based register‐linkage study assessed the likelihood of OHC placement in different gestational age groups using multivariable Cox regression models.

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Child, family and system variables associated to breakdowns in family foster care

Carme Montserrat, Joan Llosada-Gistau, Nuria Fuentes-Peláez - Children and Youth Services Review, 21 Dec 2019

The objectives of this study were: (a) to identify the rate of placement breakdown in Spain, understood as the unplanned termination of a foster placement; (b) to explore the variables associated with foster placement termination, and finally (c) to determine to what extent each variable can explain placement breakdown.

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Barriers to adoption and foster care and openness to child characteristics among transgender adults

Abbie E. Goldberg, Samantha Tornello, Rachel Farr, JuliAnna Z. Smith, Liam Miranda - Children and Youth Services Review, 21 Dec 2019

This study reports on trans adults’ fears of discrimination and openness to child characteristics in the adoption/foster care process in the U.S., relative to cisgender sexual minority parents.

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