Carers of Children: A Comparative Study of the Practices of Residential and Foster Carers

SUMMARY. This article takes further the themes outlined in Children & Society, Volume 3(1) of examining the practices of special foster and residential caregivers in terms of the management of daily and other recurrent social events, and the methods used by caregivers to control children. Data are also presented on the role activities of caregivers and their interactions with children. Care practice in the special foster homes was generally found to be significantly more child-oriented than in the children's homes, and possible explanations for this are considered. Evidence is presented which serves to counter the tendency, in the wake of recent controversy surrounding children's homes, to scapegoat caregivers and children for shortcomings in residential care. The article has important implications for residential caregivers and foster care workers; and also for administrators and other child welfare professionals such as |field social workers, educational psychologists and psychiatrists.     

Care fit for children

SUMMARY. Following on from articles in Children and Society (3.1), this article discusses issues raised by recent research on foster and residential care practices, and centres on the question of whether children's homes should seek to provide child oriented day-to-day care. The role performed by children's homes in substitute child care is considered in order to highlight the dangers inherent in the notion that it may be appropriate to trade off child oriented care for the rather abstract notion of the ‘wider function’ of children's homes     

Foster Parents Speak: Preferred Characteristics of Foster Children and Experiences in the Role of Foster Parent

Foster parents play a pivotal role in the child welfare system. A study that employed focus groups with foster parents was conducted at a private foster care agency with the initial purpose of understanding the characteristics of foster children that foster parents both preferred and not preferred. In the qualitative research tradition, their answers addressed the topic of characteristics and expanded to provide additional data on their experience as foster parents. Using theme analysis, the following themes were generated: foster care as service; foster parents' preferences of foster children's characteristics; foster parents do not feel valued or trusted; increased caseworker and foster parent partnership; problems in the foster care and related systems; and focus group as support. Implications for research and practice are forwarded.     

Psychological homelessness; A clinical example

Abstract

In England and Wales nearly 100,000 children are in the care of local authorities. Many of them will have suffered from inadequate, often grossly inadequate, parenting and will consequently be psychologically damaged. Without considerable help they are likely to become extremely disturbed adults, a burden on health, social and prison services, and with little capacity to be parents themselves, thereby repeating the pattern in future generations. But those who control our health and social service resources seem unwilling to look ahead, and the plight of the psychologically homeless child is therefore not seriously addressed. The staff of children's homes are often inexperienced, inadequately trained, given no psychiatric back-up, and paid the pittance which presumably reflects the very low value put on their vital work by society. The intensive psychotherapeutic treatment that, in addition to good enough substitute parenting, could make some lasting impression on the distortions of character typical of the emotionally traumatised child, is available for only a negligible number. The child described below showed the sort of personality disorder commonly found in such children, but was one of the few to receive sufficient help to make some difference to her character and to her future psychiatric health. 100,000 children (D.H.S.S., 1982) are in care in England and Wales, the majority of them in children's homes or foster homes, because they do not have parents capable of providing for their physical or emotional needs.     

Compliance and Internalization in Preschool Foster Children

Child compliance and internalization are socio-cognitive developmental processes which are critical for children's social outcomes in multiple arenas. These developmental processes are found to be compromised in maltreated children. The current study was designed to add to the extremely limited literature on compliance and internalization in maltreated children in foster care. Compliance and internalization tasks were administered to preschool foster children, videotaped and later coded. Through parent-report questionnaires completed by the foster parents and observations of the foster home, the relation of compliance/internalization to child behavior problems, foster care experiences, and the foster home environment was examined. Findings revealed that most children showed committed compliance, but over 50% of children exhibited “deviation” behaviors in the internalization task. HOME acceptance scores (via observation of parent and child in home setting) significantly contributed to children's compliance levels but did not significantly contribute to their internalization. Internalization was related to children's externalizing behavior problems. These findings are considered in the context of future research and practice with respect to young children in foster care.     

Estimating minimum adequate foster care costs for children in the United States

Although foster care homes play a crucial role in providing stable placements to children who enter the child welfare system due to maltreatment, there is currently no federal minimum rate nor standard methodology to establish adequate rates to support foster parents to meet these children's needs. Therefore, it is important to establish a model to estimate the real costs associated with caring for children to serve as a foundation for states to set adequate reimbursement rates. The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to establish foster care minimum adequate rates for children (MARC) based on the child's age and geographical location in every state; update the MARC with cost of living adjustments to 2016; examine changes in gaps between the MARC and the current foster care rates; and identify states that have made increases to their reimbursement rates, relative to the MARC over time. Results found that all but four states provide lower foster care reimbursement rates than the adequate costs in 2016. This study recommends that, at the federal level, enhanced precision in operational definitions of care categories could increase consistency in the way that states reimburse foster families. Additionally, findings provide policy suggestions to establish a national methodology standard and increase foster care rates to the level that will meet children's needs. This study will enhance the scant body of literature found on establishing an economic model to estimate foster care costs.     

“I want to be there when he graduates:” Foster parents show higher levels of commitment than group care providers

Group care is a frequent placement for adolescents placed in out of home care when their birth parents' care is deemed unsafe. In the present study, we assessed whether foster parents show greater commitment to children than group care providers. Given that group care represents a number of living arrangements, we considered both shift care (where staff work shifts and do not live with the children) and cottage care (where staff live for extended periods of time with the children in a group living context). Commitment was assessed using the This Is My Child Interview (adapted for adolescents). Thirty-one foster parents, 18 shift workers, and 28 cottage care providers were interviewed. As predicted, foster parents showed higher levels of commitment than both shift care workers and cottage care providers, and the associations held when children's externalizing behaviors and the number of children the caregivers had cared for were controlled. The results suggest that foster care promotes greater commitment among caregivers than other out of home placements, and add to other findings that favor foster care as the out of home placement of choice for adolescents.     

KVC's Bridging the Way Home: An innovative approach to the application of Trauma Systems Therapy in child welfare

This article presents implementation study findings from a large-scale evaluation of an intervention model for children in foster care, aimed to improve care within the services system. This Bridging the Way Home Initiative, funded by the Anne E. Casey Foundation, and conducted under the auspices of KVC Kansas (KVC) in Kansas created processes by which a defined trauma-informed intervention model (Trauma Systems Therapy-TST) could inform the work of all those involved in the care of a foster child (i.e., clinical and non-clinical providers, and foster parents). This study focuses on how effectively TST was integrated into the full continuum of care at KVC, an organization that provides out-of-home care to children served by the Kansas Department for Children and Families in the Kansas City Metropolitan and East Kansas regions. The implementation study helps explain findings from a complementary outcomes study—covered in a separate article also submitted for review. We found the process of implementing and expanding TST demanding, iterative and complex, yet ultimately TST was implemented across levels. The majority of staff and foster parents completed training in TST, and fidelity measures showed progress in TST use over time. KVC's implementation of TST provided both the knowledge and the tools necessary for foster parents to better care for the children in their homes. KVC's efforts show it is possible to infuse trauma-informed care into a large child welfare organization across all levels of care.     

The moderating effect between strengths and placement on children's needs in out-of-home care: A follow-up study

The negative impact of childhood maltreatment, which can often extend well into adulthood, consistently appears to be ameliorated if victimized children possess several resiliencies or strengths. However, little is known about how vulnerable children's outcomes are affected by different levels of strengths across different out-of-home placement settings. Hence, this study examined the association of two factors — children's strengths and placement type, with outcomes at two time-points during out-of-home care. The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool was used to assess the outcomes of 285 children placed in residential homes or foster care in Singapore. Multiple regressions were conducted on CANS domain scores to evaluate whether level of baseline strengths and placement type predicted outcomes at two time-points after controlling for race, prior placements, age, gender, interpersonal trauma, and baseline needs scores. Results indicate that relative to residential care, foster care children are reported to be younger, with lower baseline needs, more prior placements, fewer baseline strengths and suffered fewer types of interpersonal trauma. After controlling for covariates, higher baseline strengths significantly predicted lower baseline needs of children across 3 of 4 CANS domains, regardless of placement settings. However, at reassessment 1 year later, there were significant interactions between strengths and placement type, whereby baseline strengths significantly predicted lower life functioning needs only in foster care. To conclude, in both residential and foster care, the protective effects of high strengths against child maltreatment were similarly apparent at baseline, despite clear differences in children's profiles across placement types. Over time, these initial benefits appeared to persist somewhat for children in foster care but seemed to diminish in more restrictive, residential settings and this warrants further investigation on children with more similar profiles. Nonetheless, it is clear that the continual development of children's strengths should be prioritized in case planning.     

Influence of Age on Transracial Foster Adoptions and Its Relation to Ethnic Identity Development

In the United States, ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the foster care system and underrepresented among potential adoptive parents. The need to find permanent homes for foster children has led to an increase in the controversial practice of transracial adoption (TRA), wherein ethnic minority children are placed in adoptive homes with Caucasian parents. While many child welfare scholars and dependency stakeholders support TRA as a positive alternative to foster care, others are concerned that such adoptions may inhibit the ethnic identity development of transracially adopted children. This article documents the large number of ethnic minority children who are adopted through TRA prior to the onset of ethnic identification and how age influences which children are adopted out of foster care. The findings indicate that young ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to be adopted through TRA compared to older children, an effect especially prominent among African Americans. Implications for the child welfare system are discussed.     

Externalizing problems in young foster children: Prevalence rates,predictors and service use

Objective

Examining the prevalence of externalizing problems, their predictors and mental health service use for these problems by foster children and foster parents in a representative group of foster children aged 3 to 12 in Flanders.

Method

Survey data were collected on 212 foster children, who had been in the foster family for approximately four months. Foster parents filled out a Child Behavior Checklist to measure foster children's externalizing problems. Foster care workers reported on several potential risk variables for externalizing problems and on foster children's and foster parent's mental health service use. Predictors of externalizing problems were identified from a large number of variables using the method of purposeful selection of variables in linear regression.

Results

40.6% of the foster children had externalizing problems. Foster children who were placed because of behavioral problems had more externalizing problems. Only 20.9% of the foster children with externalizing problems and only 13.9% of their foster parents received professional help.

Conclusions

This study showed that externalizing problems are prevalent in this young foster care population, that it is hard to predict which foster children had externalizing problems, and that foster children and their foster parents rarely receive services for these problems. These findings call for a standard protocol of assessment of foster children's externalizing problems. Moreover, from a preventive viewpoint, guidelines are needed to systematically link young foster children with externalizing problems and their foster parents to appropriate services.     

Fostering cultural development: Foster parents' perspectives

Given the increased number of children from racialized groups requiring foster care and the decreasing number of foster parents from racialized groups, transcultural foster placements are on the rise. Addressing racial and cultural diversities within the context of transcultural foster care placements is one of the most pressing dilemmas of contemporary child protection practice, in Canada. In this qualitative exploratory study, the perspectives of regular non-kinship foster parents in two Canadian provinces, who provide foster care to children and youth from racialized groups, were explored through open-ended semi-structured interviews. Participants consisted of nine foster parents, between the ages of 30 and over 60 years old, who were asked to share their experiences regarding transcultural foster care placements. The results of this study indicated foster parents were culturally receptive and ‘fostering cultural development’ in their homes as well as their respective communities.     

Preparing and Partnering with Families to Support the Adoption of Children from Foster Care

ABSTRACT

This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of a pre-placement education and preparation curriculum (PREP) for prospective foster/adoptive parents in improving attitudes toward children with prenatal substance exposure and their substance-using birth parent and increasing willingness to adopt these children. Participants included 1,836 prospective parents seeking adoption through foster care who received three 3-hour sessions of PREP. Prospective parents completed questionnaires assessing their knowledge about important issues involved in adopting a child from foster care, attitudes, and willingness to adopt children with a variety of characteristics. Changes from pre- to post-intervention were examined. Results indicated significant increases in self-reported knowledge; significantly more positive attitudes toward substance-abusing parents and children with prenatal substance exposure; and significantly increased willingness to adopt children with a variety of potential difficulties, including children with serious behavior problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a biological history of mental illness. In sum, findings suggest that prospective adoptive parents who attended the PREP sessions felt better prepared by the end of training with regard to issues related to adoption of high-risk foster children with special needs, particularly those with prenatal substance exposure.     

Foster parents' emotional investment and their young foster children's socio-emotional functioning

Emotional investment may be defined as a willingness to accept and become committed to a child, and being aware of influencing the child's development. Research in this field is limited, and has shown that commitment in particular is associated with foster children's socio-emotional functioning. Our aim was therefore to investigate 60 foster parents' acceptance, commitment and awareness of influence to their early placed foster children at 2 years, as well as to investigate the association between these three concepts and the foster children's social-emotional functioning (externalizing, internalizing, dysregulation and competence) at 2 (T1) and 3 (T2) years of age. The caregivers were interviewed with “This is My Baby”, and completed the questionnaire “Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment”. Results showed that on average the foster parents were rated quite high on emotional investment. Linear regressions, including one predictor and one outcome variable, revealed associations between emotional investment and foster children's socio-emotional functioning. Moreover, in regressions including all three predictors, commitment significantly negatively predicted externalizing behavior in the foster children at T1, while acceptance significantly negatively predicted dysregulation at T2. Lastly, among others for externalizing, the coefficient of commitment was significantly higher at T1 than at T2. Our results indicate a possible short-term influence of commitment on externalizing- and a possible long-term influence of acceptance on dysregulation behavior in foster children. We will therefore highlight the clinical importance of emotional investment in foster care, in order to help the young foster child towards a healthy social-emotional functioning.     

Prevalence,experiences, and characteristics of children and youth who enter foster care through voluntary placement agreements

A voluntary foster care placement (sometimes referred to as a voluntary placement agreement) is an agreement, entered into without court involvement, between a state or county child welfare agency and a child's parents to place a child into out-of-home placement. When a child enters foster care through this type of placement, state and federal programs that cover children who enter child welfare due to a court order become the custodians of the voluntarily-placed-child's placement, care, and supervision. In this cross-sectional, exploratory study, data from the Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) was used to examine the characteristics and experiences of children who enter foster care through a voluntary foster care agreement, and to compare them with those of children who enter foster care through a court order. Findings indicate that children who are placed through a voluntary placement agreement differ from children who enter through a court order in their personal characteristics, as well as in their placement settings, length of placement, and manner of discharge from foster care. This study provides a baseline for future research into this area of child welfare practice.     

Selective Campaigning for Foster Homes: An Empirical View

Experts on child welfare agree that it is vastly more desirable to care for children separated from natural parents in foster homes than in institutions. However, a shortage of foster homes has been a perennial problem in virtually every community in which they are needed. It would appear that, to the extent to which potential foster parents do exist in a community, this shortage could be attributed to inadequate and/or misdirected publicity.     

The prevailing cultures and staff dynamics in children's homes: implications for training

This paper is about training, and the learning needs of residential child care staff that training should address. It takes as its starting point research that focused on what happens in children's homes, as described by residential staff themselves. It depicts the tasks which staff carry out in relation to their overall goal of benefiting the children and young people in their care, and considers the ways in which staff work to develop and maintain viable and effective teams. Distinctive cultures emerge when working in staff teams, and the paper shows how these are related to the kinds of practice that can be achieved in residential settings. The knowledge base, practice skills, and personal qualities required to work within residential child care are detailed. The paper closes by addressing the implications which this research has for training residential staff to work effectively in group settings. It argues that fundamental to training competent residential staff is a commitment to developing an ongoing culture of learning in workplace settings.     

Foster Parents' Understanding of Children's Problematic Attachment Strategies

ABSTRACT

Foster mothers and biological mothers were interviewed regarding their understanding of children's insecure attachment strategies and their knowledge of foster care issues. In addition, parent sensitivity was assessed and case workers in the foster care system reported on foster mothers' effectiveness. As expected, foster mothers reported significantly more attachment-related difficulties with their foster children than biological mothers reported with their natural children. Foster mothers were not significantly different from biological mothers in their understanding of attachment strategies, knowledge about foster care issues, or sensitivity. Case workers' reports of foster parent effectiveness were significantly related to foster parents' knowledge about foster care issues but were not significantly related to parents' understanding of attachment strategies. We discuss the importance of sensitivity to attachment issues among foster parents.     

Improving Relationships in Child Welfare Practice: Perspectives of Foster Care Providers

Foster parents care for our nation’s most vulnerable children and adolescents. Their ability to provide care is impacted directly and indirectly by their interactions with public child welfare agencies and workers. This study examines the perspectives of 1095 foster parents in a southwestern state in the U.S. regarding what they believe child welfare workers are doing well and their suggestions for ways to improve relationships between foster care providers and child welfare workers. Foster parents commended caseworkers who were responsive to their needs and provided ongoing concrete and emotional support, and believed there was a need for improved communication and enhanced teamwork. Foster parents consistently acknowledged an overwhelmed child welfare system and the impact on child welfare workers and child welfare-involved families. Understanding the perspectives of foster parents can improve relationships between child welfare workers and foster parents, improve recruitment and retention efforts of foster parents, prevent disruption of children from foster homes due to license closure, and improve the overall well-being of child welfare-involved children and families.     

Mix and match: planning to keep looked after children safe

The risks which children run from other children in substitute care have received little attention. However, if children's safety in care is to be maximized, then placement planning will need to focus on the risks and vulnerability of both the child to be placed and others already in the setting. It should also ensure that full information is given to the caregivers. In an interview sample of 40 looked after sexually abused and/or abusing young people aged 10 or over, most of the young abusers were placed in foster care and the majority of the sexually abused young people went into children's homes. However, in fewer than a third of these placements was consideration given to how the young person would fit in with others in that setting. This meant that the potential risks which that child posed to others or vice versa were not addressed. More worrying still, in just under half of the sample, no information about the young person's history of sexual abuse or abusing behaviour was given to the caregivers. This meant that caregivers were unable to plan to provide the level of supervision which might have averted a number of instances of abuse. When the whole histories of the sexually abused young people in the study were examined, it was found that half of them had abused another child at some stage, generally another child in care. This evidence suggests that the experience of sexual abuse should be regarded as an important risk factor in the later development of sexually abusing behavior and that local authorities need to fashion policies which emphasize the prime importance of social workers providing full information about children's backgrounds when placements are made. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.