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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The contribution of supervision orders and special guardianship to children’s lives and family justice

Professor Judith Harwin, Dr Bachar Alrouh, Ms Lily Golding, Ms Tricia McQuarrie, Professor Karen Broadhurst and Dr Linda Cusworth - Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University, 04 Mar 2019

This report is about the use of ‘family orders’ to support family reunification and placement with family and friends as outcomes of S31 care and supervision proceedings brought under the UK Children Act 1989. The over-arching aim of this study is to understand the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of these orders, and their use at national and regional level.

Educators and Community Partners Support for Youth in and Aging Out of Foster Care

Cindy F. Conley - National Youth-At-Risk Conference Savannah, 04 Mar 2019

This presentation is the result of a critical discourse analysis study which explored the stories–through interviews, observations, and journals–of three young adult women who aged out of the foster care system in a region of Central Tennessee.

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RISE Up: Facilitating Frontline Responder Collaboration on Co-Occurring Child Welfare and Intimate Partner Violence Cases

Lisa Langenderfer-Magruder, Cassandra Olson, Dina J. Wilke, Lucas Alven - Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 02 Mar 2019

This study explores the qualitative responses of child welfare workers in Florida to understand their collaboration experiences, focusing specifically on their perceptions of facilitative factors of collaboration with Intimate partner violence (IPV) services.

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Young people’s suggestions for the assets needed in the transition to adulthood: Mapping the research evidence

Ann Hagell, Rakhee Shah, Russell Viner, Dougal Hargreaves, Jennifer McGowan, Michelle Heys - Health Foundation , 01 Mar 2019

This paper explores the extent to which the existing research literature has addressed four key assets to a successful transition to adulthood identified by care-experienced young people - skills and qualifications, personal connections, financial and practical support, and emotional support - and if so, what it showed about the asset’s role in a transition to adulthood.

Fostering Stability

Montserrat Fargas - Foster journal, 01 Mar 2019

This article is based on the author’s keynote presentation given at the Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA) conference in November 2018. It outlines an ‘ecological’ model for promoting foster care stability in Ireland.

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Care leavers' priorities and the corporate parent role: A self-determination theory perspective

Rebekah Hyde & Cathy Atkinson - Educational and Child Psychology, 01 Mar 2019

This paper explores care leavers’ needs and priorities from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT), which relates the individual’s motivation to the human need for competence, relatedness and autonomy.

Interventions in Foster Family Care: A Systematic Review

Martin Bergström, Marianne Cederblad, Kickan Håkansson, Ann Kristine Jonsson, Christian Munthe, Bo Vinnerljung, Ingegerd Wirtberg, Pernilla Östlund, Knut Sundell - Research on Social Work Practice, 28 Feb 2019

This article presents the findings from a systematic review conducted on interventions for foster children and foster carers.

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The Making of a Model: Teacher Education for Looked After Children

Sarah Alix - North Essex Teacher Training/ University of Suffolk, 27 Feb 2019

This article reports a three-stage process of developing a model of teacher education to encompass provision for Looked After Children in schools in the UK.

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Do adolescents in care systematically under-report their mental health difficulties in population studies? A narrative review

Michael Tarren-Sweeney - Developmental Child Welfare, 27 Feb 2019

The present article reports findings of a narrative review of self- and carer-report mental health data that addressed the research question: Do adolescents who reside in statutory out-of-home care (OOHC) systematically underreport their mental health difficulties in population studies?

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Country Care Review: Bahrain

Better Care Network, 27 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.