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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Keeping Kids in Families: Trends in U.S. Foster Care Placement

Annie E. Casey Foundation, 02 Apr 2019

In this data snapshot, the Annie E. Casey Foundation examines how placements for young people in foster care have changed from 2007 to 2017.

Coping with Adversity in the Lives of Children in Foster Care

Viola Tamášová and Silvia Barnová - Acta Educationis Generalis, 01 Apr 2019

This theoretical-empirical study is based on two particular case studies of families bringing up children from institutional care in Slovakia.

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Home Away From Home: Lessons for Building a One Family, One Home Foster Care System

Timothy Ross, Lucas Gerber, Yuk C. Pang - Action Research Partners, 01 Apr 2019

This report describes lessons learned from a centerpiece of Home Away From Home: coaching, technical assistance, and data analysis activities aimed to improve the recruitment, training, support and retention of foster homes and build kinship caregiving capacity.

Intergenerational Trauma: The Relationship Between Residential Schools and the Child Welfare System Among Young People Who Use Drugs in Vancouver, Canada

Brittany Barker, Kali Sedgemore, Malcolm Tourangeau, Louise Lagimodiere, John Milloy, Huiru Dong, Kanna Hayashi, Jean Shoveller, Thomas Kerr, Kora DeBeck - Journal of Adolescent Health, 01 Apr 2019

This study investigated the relationship between familial residential school system (RSS) exposure and personal child welfare system (CWS) involvement among young people who use drugs (PWUD).

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Community Placement and Case Management (CPCM) Programme Manual for Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC)

SUKA Society, 01 Apr 2019

The Community Placement and Case Management (CPCM) Programme aims to provide a holistic case management system that specifically looks into the protection concerns of migrant, undocumented, stateless, refugee, and asylum seeking Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) at risk of arrest and detention and those directly affected by immigration detention in Malaysia.

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Caseload Reductions in New York City – An Impact Assessment

Fred Wulczyn, Sara Feldman, and Scott Huhr - Center for State Child Welfare Data, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, 01 Apr 2019

For this evaluation, the authors asked whether the rate of exit to permanency increased for children whose time in foster care in New York City coincided with when private foster care agencies reached the new reduced caseload target.

Courts, care proceedings and outcomes uncertainty: The challenges of achieving and assessing “good outcomes” for children after child protection proceedings

Jonathan Dickens, Judith Masson, Ludivine Garside, Julie Young, Kay Bader - Child & Family Social Work, 01 Apr 2019

This open access paper draws on empirical research into the outcomes of care proceedings for a randomly selected sample of 616 children in England and Wales, about half starting proceedings in 2009–2010 and the others in 2014–2015. The paper considers the challenges of achieving and assessing “good outcomes” for the children.

Feasibility investigation: Leveraging smartphone technology in trauma and behavior management-informed training for foster caregivers

Alexandra Sullivan, Nicole Lafko Breslend, Jessica Strolin-Goltzman, Amy Bielawski-Branch, Jennifer Jorgenson, Abigail H. Deaver, Greg Forehand, Rex Forehand - Children and Youth Services Review, 29 Mar 2019

As technology enhancements effectively augment family-based interventions, the purpose of this study was to pilot a smartphone application (app) in the context of a trauma and behavior management-informed training for foster and kinship caregivers.

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Phase 9 Florida Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Evaluation Final Report (10/2013-09/2018)

Mary I. Armstrong, et al - Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 29 Mar 2019

This report presents findings from an implementation analysis aimed at describing implementation of the U.S. state of Florida Title IV-E Demonstration Project, which allowed the state to use certain federal funds more flexibly, for services other than room and board expenses for children served in out-of-home care.

Cross-Ethnic Measurement Equivalence of the Children’s Depression Inventory Among Youth in Foster Care

Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen, Jamila E. Holcomb, Lenore M. McWey - Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 27 Mar 2019

In the current study, the authors examined the factor structure of the Children’s Depression Inventory in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents in foster care in the US and examined the configural invariance of the measure across ethnic groups.

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