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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Timing of the first report and highest level of child protection response in association with early developmental vulnerabilities in an Australian population cohort

Larissa Rossen, Stacy Tzoumakis, Maina Kariuki, Kristin R. Laurens, Merran Butler, Marilyn Chilvers, Felicity Harris, Vaughan J. Carr, Melissa J. Green - Child Abuse & Neglect, 23 Apr 2019

This study examined associations between early developmental vulnerabilities and (1) the highest level of child protection response (where out-of-home care was deemed the highest response among other types of reports/responses), and (2) the developmental timing of the first child protection report.

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The Hispanic Experience of the Child Welfare System

Ryan D. Davidson, Meredith W. Morrissey, Connie J. Beck - Family Court Review, 23 Apr 2019

This literature review examines research on the outcomes and experiences of Hispanic families in the US child welfare system and how case characteristics interact with the experiences of Hispanic families.

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“There are carers, and then there are carers who actually care”; Conceptualizations of care among looked after children and care leavers, social workers and carers

Rebecca Brown, Hayley Alderson, Eileen Kaner, Ruth McGovern, Raghu Lingam - Child Abuse & Neglect, 19 Apr 2019

This study aims to explore how care is perceived and practiced among Looked after children and care leavers (LACCL) and those with a duty of care for them.

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The consequences of foster care versus institutional care in early childhood on adolescent cardiometabolic and immune markers

Slopen, Natalie; Tang, Alva; Nelson, Charles A.; Zeanah, Charles H.; McDade, Thomas W.; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Fox, Nathan - Psychosomatic Medicine, 18 Apr 2019

This study, part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, compared the consequences of long-term high-quality foster care versus standard institution-based care which began in early childhood on cardiometabolic and immune markers assessed at the time of adolescence.

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Care in crisis—Is there a solution? Reflections on the Care Crisis Review 2018

Holt, Kim and Kelly, Nancy - Child & Family Social Work, 17 Apr 2019

The authors of this article reflect on the recently published Care Crisis Review 2018, a sector‐led review, which examines the reasons for the rise in care proceedings and the number of children in care.

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A meta-analytic review of parenting interventions in foster care and adoption

Nikita K. Schoemaker, Wilma G. M. Wentholt, Anouk Goemans, Harriet J. Vermeer, Femmie Juffer and Lenneke R. A. Alink - Development and Psychopathology, 15 Apr 2019

In the current study, a series of eight meta-analyses were performed to examine the effectiveness of intervention programs to help foster and adoptive parents to overcome challenges on four parent outcomes, three child outcomes, and placement disruption.

The importance of supports for children's placement and for young people leaving care: A case of social justice

Montserrat Fargas Malet, Dominic Mc Sherry - Paper presented at 9th European Conference for Social Work Research, 12 Apr 2019

The Care Pathways and Outcomes Study is a longitudinal study following 374 children who were in care and under five years old on 31/3/2000 in Northern Ireland. The study followed where the young people ended up living, whether they returned to their birth parents, went into kinship or non-relative foster care, or were adopted.

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Child maltreatment and depressive symptomatology among adolescents in out-of-home care: The mediating role of self-esteem

Miyoung Yoon, Seungjong Cho, Dalhee Yoon - Children and Youth Services Review, 11 Apr 2019

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of self-esteem as a mediator in the association between different types of child maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse) and depressive symptomatology among a sample of adolescents in out-of-home care.

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Outcomes for children looked after by LAs: 31 March 2018

UK Department for Education, 11 Apr 2019

This statistical release provides national and local authority (LA) level information on the outcomes for children who have been looked after continuously for at least 12 months at 31 March 2018, by local authorities in England.

Increasing Social Support for Child Welfare-Involved Families Through Family Group Conferencing

Tyler W Corwin, Erin J Maher, Lisa Merkel-Holguin, Heather Allan, Dana M Hollinshead, John D Fluke - The British Journal of Social Work, 10 Apr 2019

This study uses a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of Family Group Conferencing on caseworkers’ perceptions of families’ levels of social support.

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