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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Examining the Feasibility of Using Home Visiting Models to Support Home-Based Child Care Providers

Chrishana M. Lloyd, Maggie Kane, Deborah Seok, Claudia Vega - Child Trends, 01 Sep 2019

This report examines home visiting models and curricula, state- and federal-level policies related to early care and education and home visiting, funding streams to support early care and education and home visiting, and the perspectives of home-based child care (HBCC) providers and parents in order to explore the potential for scaling up this model of professional development for HBCC providers in the United States.

Preparing Youth in Foster Care for College Through an Early Outreach Program

Royel M. Johnson, Terrell L. Strayhorn - Journal of College Student Development, 01 Sep 2019

To help increase the college preparation of local foster youth in a Midwestern city in the US, the authors developed a working group comprised of foster youth nominated by agency staff, staff from a university research center that sponsored and coordinated the program, local community leaders who work with foster youth, and city government representatives.

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Child-Parent relationships in Russian families of different types

Yashkova, Aksana N.; Buyanova, Valentina V.; Sukhareva, Nadezhda F.; Alaeva, Maria V. - Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, 01 Sep 2019

This paper examines the data of empirical research on child-parent relationship in the Russian adoptive and birth families.

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In-Depth Case Studies of Authentic Youth Engagement in Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative Sites

Amy M. Salazar, Rachel Peterson, Sara Spiers, Garrett Jenkins Adrian Tucker Abigail Bambilla - Washington State University Vancouver, 01 Sep 2019

The purpose of this study is to synthesize and share the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative’s approach to youth engagement. The study’s findings communicate how authentically engaging youth can help both the Jim Casey Initiative and youth-serving systems achieve their desired results.

A Positive Youth Development Approach to Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Maltreated Children in Foster Care: Replication and Extension of an RCT of the Fostering Healthy Futures Program

Heather N. Taussig, Lindsey M. Weiler, Edward F. Garrido, Tara Rhodes, Ashley Boat, Melody Fadell - American Journal of Community Psychology, 30 Aug 2019

This study replicates and extends previous findings of the Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) program, a 30‐week mentoring and skills group intervention for preadolescent maltreated children in foster care.

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Exploring the multi-dimensionality of permanence and stability: Emotions, experiences and temporality in young people’s discourses about long-term foster care in Ireland

Lisa Moran, Caroline McGregor, Carmel Devaney - Qualitative Social Work, 28 Aug 2019

This paper focuses on qualitative findings on how young people in long-term foster care in Ireland interpret permanence and stability.

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Challenges and Opportunities Experienced by Young Adults Transitioning Out of Informal Kinship-Based Foster Care in Bikita District, Zimbabwe

Charles Dziro - Emerging Adulthood, 28 Aug 2019

This article examines the challenges encountered by, and the opportunities available to, young adults as they transition from informal kinship-based foster care to independent living in the Bikita District of Zimbabwe.

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Turning Resistance into Passion for Knowledge with the Tools of Agency: Teaching-Learning about Theories of Evolution for social justice among foster youth

Eduardo Vianna & Anna Stetsenko - Perspectiva, 27 Aug 2019

The authors of this article discuss implementing critical-theoretical pedagogy within a collaborative transformative project in a foster care program in the U.S. to showcase the activist role of the educator in providing tools of agency for youth struggling against oppression.

Gender Intersectionality and Family Separation, Alternative Care and the Reintegration of Children

Family Care First (FCF) and Responsive and Effective Child Welfare Systems Transformation (REACT), 27 Aug 2019

This study from Family Care First (FCF) and Responsive and Effective Child Welfare Systems Transformation (REACT) utilized a mixed method approach to data gathering and analysis to understand the effects of gender, identity, and institutional practices on the well-being of children in alternative care in Cambodia.

Children in care: Where do children entering care at different ages end up? An analysis of local authority administrative data

Elsbeth Neil, Lisanne Gitsels, June Thoburn - Children and Youth Services Review, 20 Aug 2019

This paper explores the usefulness of undertaking a longitudinal analysis of these data at local authority level to determine the care pathways for children entering care, differentiating by age at entry.

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