You matter to me: important relationships and self‐esteem of adolescents in foster care

This study examined the extent to which relationships with biological mothers, foster parents and peers influenced the self‐esteem of adolescents in foster care. A subsample from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being of adolescents in long‐term foster care was used for this study (n = 188). The findings indicated that when considering relationships with biological mothers, foster parents and peers and controlling for demographic characteristics in one regression model, relationships with peers had the greatest impact on self‐esteem of adolescents. Implications for child welfare and clinical work are discussed.     

Nonresidential fathers with children in foster care: A descriptive study in the United States

This study used the data from 64 nonresidential fathers who had their children placed in foster care to describe their characteristics. The survey included questions about demographic background and personal challenges, the father's involvement with his child in foster care, the father's relationship with the mother, barriers to the father's involvement, and the relationship with child welfare agencies and workers. The average age of the participants was about 39 years, and the majority of them were African American. About 70% of the fathers reported low levels of education. Almost 69% of fathers reported frequent face‐to‐face contact with their children. On average, the participants were arrested 2.6 times, and it ranged from 0 to 34. More research is necessary to learn more about these fathers, develop programs to help them become a viable source for permanency option, and become more involved in their children's lives.     

Foster care in France: children's perception of their own well‐being

Working to improve the welfare of children in care is a priority shared by all French child protection services. However, the means to measure and improve well‐being are limited (Fergeus et al., 2019). Although the trend today is towards a more comprehensive understanding of the point of view of adults involved in the socioeducational process, too little is done to include the children's own perception of their situation and conditions of care. The purposes of this study are to document and analyse the point of view of children in foster families on their subjective well‐being and also to identify contextual factors that influence it. Ninety‐one children living in foster care, aged 13.5 years on average, completed the French version of the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale developped by Huebner, Zullig Runa in 2012. The multidimensional evaluation of well‐being (family, school, self, friends, and living conditions) reveals a moderate life satisfaction within the foster family and a weak one at school. Total life satisfaction levels are directly linked to the number of care orders the child has experienced, their duration, and the type of education received. The implications of these results for professional practices related to children in care will be discussed.     

Fostering confidence: Foster caregivers' relationship efficacy and associations with marital and co‐parenting relationship quality

Although healthy marital and co‐parenting relationships are important characteristics of a high‐quality, two‐parent foster home, little attention has been given to foster caregiver couples' perceptions of their marital and co‐parenting relationships and the contextual factors that influence these perceptions. Guided by the contextual model of family stress and social cognitive theory, the current study explores patterns of foster caregivers' relationship efficacy, covariates associated with efficacy, and how efficacy is associated with marital and co‐parenting relationship quality. On the basis of data collected from a random sample of 93 foster caregivers, latent profile analysis identified 49.5% as reporting moderate levels of relationship efficacy and 50.5% as reporting high relationship efficacy. Additionally, findings suggested that those who had been married previously, did not have a current placement, had been married longer, had fewer children, and received support from family reported higher levels of relationship efficacy, which was positively associated with positive marital and co‐parenting relationship quality. Implications for how the child welfare system can support foster caregiver marital and co‐parenting relationships are shared.     

Factors associated with placement breakdown initiated by foster parents – empirical findings from Germany

This study investigates the effects of covariates on the probability of placement breakdown in non‐kinship family foster care. Breakdowns are distinguished according to the initiator: children, carers, foster parents and the local child welfare authorities. The children concerned had entered foster care at ages ranging from 0 to a maximum of 17 years (n = 14 171). A significantly higher risk of breakdown on the initiative of the foster parents is found in male children, children whose parents receive financial support, children whose parents were removed from the register of carers, children who were between 6 and 15 years old when they joined the foster family, children who had earlier lived in a different foster family or residential care, children from patchwork families and children whose joining of a foster family was the result of disruptive social behaviour. Two‐thirds of the children from non‐kinship family foster care who stay in the foster family was ended on the initiative of the foster parents are subsequently looked after in residential care. That is three times the rate for all terminated foster relationships. Breakdowns on the initiative of the foster parents thus indicate a high risk of unstable care history developing and accordingly necessitate prevention strategies.     

Physical and mental health changes in aging foster parents: Do child behavioural problems hasten declines?

This study examined foster parent physical and mental health over time. It was hypothesized that increased severity and frequency of child behavioural problems, whether externalizing or internalizing, would be associated with poorer health over time, especially for foster parents ≥60 years of age. Data from the baseline and Wave 2 interview of the 2010 National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being were used. The final analytic sample included kin and nonkin foster parents who had custody of a foster child for both waves of data collection (n = 962). Ordinary Least Squares regression models with lagged dependent variables showed that foster parents ≥60 had deteriorating physical health over time, but caregiver age alone had no association with worsening mental health. However, parents ≥60 caring for children with externalizing behavioural problems had significantly improved physical health. Mental health of parents ≥60 significantly diminished if child externalizing or internalizing problems worsened. Findings indicate that for aging foster parents, externalizing child behaviours may stimulate physical activity and improved physical health, yet any type of child behavioural problem can deteriorate mental health functioning.     

Relative foster care: An emerging trend in foster care placement policy and practice

Abstract

Increases in the foster child population, at a time when terminations in foster care placement have decreased along with a decline in the number of non‐related foster parents, has resulted in an increasing use of relative foster care placement. Relative care as an emerging trend in foster care placement, is not without controversy. Its merits, however, should be assessed in terms of its benefits to the children in care, the fiscal and organizational costs, and the problems it creates for the child welfare system. This paper reviews what is known about the characteristics of relative caregivers and the children in their care. Federal and state policies that affect the use of relatives as an alternative placement resource for children are described. The available data regarding the length of time in placement, number of placements, physical, mental health and educational and permanency outcomes for children placed with relatives are discussed. Implications for practice are drawn and areas for further research are suggested.     

“She was accused of colluding with the mother”; the training and support needs of parent‐and‐child foster carers: A qualitative study

Parent‐and‐child foster placements are used to accommodate parents with their children, either when the mother is a looked‐after child or as a setting for a parenting assessment. Despite this being a specialized role with significant potential for affecting outcomes for disadvantaged families, there is currently a lack of accessible learning opportunities for foster carers on the physical and mental well‐being of women with complex needs such as a history of domestic abuse, substance abuse, perinatal mental ill‐health, or having a learning disability. Parent‐and‐child carers experience some unique stresses and value the support of others with similar experiences; this kind of peer support is currently largely absent. This qualitative study has used ten focus groups with foster carers, eight interviews with mothers, and nine interviews with supervising social workers, to inform the development of an online learning resource and a social media‐based peer support network for parent‐and‐child foster carers.     

Congruence and incongruence in the perception of ‘family’ among foster parents,birth parents and their adolescent (foster) children

Over recent decades, listening to children's voices and viewing children as competent actors has gathered momentum in research as well as in practice. Acknowledging children's perspectives requires sensitive listeners who are willing, deliberately and as realistically as possible, to reconstruct children's ways of seeing. In our study, based in Norway, we investigated the views of 22 adolescents in long‐term foster care and 15 of their birth parents and 21 of their foster parents. Using Q methodology, we explored congruence and incongruence in the perception of ‘family’ among foster parents, birth parents and their adolescent (foster) children. We found three family perspectives among the adolescents. Within two of these perspectives, there seem to be more congruent understandings of the children's perspectives among the parent groups. We discuss some main implications in light of these findings. In Norway, as in many other countries, the policy of child welfare is that children first and foremost should grow up with their birth family. When out‐of‐home placements are necessary, a basic principle is that children should remain in contact with their birth family.     

Adapting the Friends of the Children programme for child welfare system‐involved families

Research has shown the importance of long‐term, caring adults for children in foster care. This paper reviews the Friends of the Children (FOTC) long‐term mentoring programme and how it was adapted to serve children and families with child welfare system involvement. This study's two research questions are (1) How do Friends (FOTC's paid professional mentors) currently work with, and in turn, have an impact on, child welfare‐involved families? and (2) How can Friends better support child welfare system‐involved caregivers and families to promote family stability, permanence, and child well‐being? Data were collected from 21 caregivers (foster and biological), 24 FOTC Friends, five child welfare workers, and five teachers. Qualitative analyses of focus group, interview, and open‐ended survey data revealed a wide variety of ways Friends currently support children and families. In addition, several recommendations were made for strengthening programming. These findings provide valuable insights into providing long‐term mentoring to child welfare system‐involved children and families.     

Intergenerational pathways leading to foster care placement of foster care alumni's children

This study examined a path model that postulated intergenerational relationships between biological parent psychosocial functioning and foster care alumni mental health, economic status and social support; and from these to the likelihood of children of foster care alumni being placed in foster care. The sample included 742 adults who spent time in foster care as children with a private foster care agency and who reported having at least one biological child. A full pathway was found between poorer father's functioning to greater alumni depression, which was in turn associated with negative social support, and then a greater likelihood of child out‐of‐home placement. Other parent to alumni paths were that poorer father functioning was associated with alumni anxiety and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poorer mother's mental health was associated with PTSD; however, anxiety and PTSD were not implicated as precursors of foster care placement of the child. Findings support the need for increased practice and policy support to address the mental health needs of parents of children in or at risk of foster care, as well as the children themselves, as family history may have a lasting influence on quality of life, even when children are raised apart from biological parents.     

Foster care placement breakdown in the Netherlands and Flanders: Prevalence,precursors, and associated factors

Family foster care is the option of choice for children in need of out‐of‐home care in Flanders and the Netherlands. Foster care is however a vulnerable intervention, and questions can be raised as to its efficacy. Although the literature on placement breakdown has made significant progress during the last years, empirical knowledge regarding breakdown in Flanders and the Netherlands remains scant. Consequently, this study aimed at investigating prevalence and precursors of breakdowns in long‐term foster care, the duration of placement before breakdown, and the association of child and placement characteristics with breakdown. Case files of 271 Dutch and 309 Flemish foster children were analysed with a coding scheme designed for this study. After 6 years, 398 placements had terminated: 169 placements broke down and 229 placements ended positively. Placements broke down mainly because of behavioural problems of the foster child, foster parents' parenting problems, and conflicts between birth and foster parents. Foster children with behavioural problems, older foster children, foster children denied treatment, and foster children in care because of sexual abuse were more at risk of breakdown. Assessing these factors is important when evaluating the appropriateness of a family foster care placement.     

Placement characteristics and stability: a longitudinal analysis of Norwegian children in foster homes

This paper investigates how enhanced support for foster parents, such as covering fees and providing consultants and relief, may reduce the number of replacements experienced by children in foster care. It also investigates the extent to which replacements are associated with family (kin) vs. non‐family foster parents, or with legal characteristics of the placement (i.e. forced administrative decisions vs. relief measures agreed upon by the parents). Statistical analyses of administrative data from Norway investigated the longitudinal relationships between these characteristics and the number of replacements at two levels – children (N = 16 109) and municipalities (N = 418) – over 5 years (2007–2011). The results reveal modest associations between enhanced support and fewer replacements; for example, replacement rates are lower for children placed in homes of kin than in non‐family homes. Replacements also tend to be fewer when the placement is forced rather than consensual.     

Mistrust and Self-Isolation: Barriers to Social Support for Older Adult Methadone Clients

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore barriers to the use, maintenance, and expansion of social supports in older adult methadone clients. Methods: The data for this analysis were derived from a qualitative study of the needs of aging methadone clients. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 24 methadone clients over the age of 50. Results: A lack of trust was identified as a principal barrier to the use, maintenance, and expansion of the social supports of older adult methadone clients. Causes of this mistrust include issues associated with aging, past traumatic experiences, and difficult personal relationships. Implications: These findings imply that addressing the issue of self isolation and recognizing the reason older adult methadone clients engage in this behavior is a key element in getting this specific population to use, maintain, and foster healthy social supports. A common phrase echoed throughout the interviews is that a person cannot trust anybody. Because of this mistrust, some clients keep to themselves by electing to self-isolate and decline to use, maintain, or foster new relationships. As a result, these individuals are less likely foster and/or engage in healthy social relationships, which are a key component of substance abuse treatment and abstinence maintenance.     

Responding to child maltreatment: Comparison between the USA and China

A recent study estimated that over one‐fourth of Chinese children have suffered maltreatment (Fang et al., 2015 ). However, the current child welfare policy in China is limited to orphans, abandoned children, and children with disabilities. Also, there is very little comparative research in China on Chinese and other countries’ child welfare systems. The purpose of this study was to analyze applicable US and Chinese child welfare policies, identify gaps in Chinese policy regarding child maltreatment, and make recommendations for a policy agenda for improving child welfare in China based on cultural values and existing policy structures. Results show that China has considerable capacity to make improvements in child protective services, foster care, and adoption policies. Based on the results of this study, several implications are provided to develop China's child maltreatment policy to increase children's outcomes of well‐being, safety, and permanency. Key Practitioner Message: ? To understand the background and system of current Chinese child maltreatment policy; ? To review US child maltreatment policy and its implementation to identify gaps in the Chinese child maltreatment system; ? To provide policy suggestions to develop Chinese child maltreatment policy and provide recommendations for social work education and practice in China.     

Foster care assessment: an exploratory study of the placement assessment process in Flanders and the Netherlands

Family foster care placement decision‐making has a weak scientific underpinning. The identification of clusters of foster children (groups of foster children with similar characteristics) can help improve decision quality. In this study, we investigated if foster children could indeed be clustered, which problems were identified at the time of placement and what might be the influence of placement history. Two clusters of foster children were found: (i) young children with coinciding parental child‐rearing incapacity and familial problems, and (ii) older children with child problems. At the time of placement, familial problems were more often identified in younger children with a placement history. These findings stress the importance of approaching foster care assessment as part of a dynamic decision‐making process. It is key to finding the most appropriate situation for the child. At the same time, it must be decided how the desired situation can be realized, wherein placement decisions are based on an appraisal of whether or not a foster placement is an appropriate solution. In conjunction with this, it needs to be decided how the parents can be supported towards reunification, or whether or not long‐term foster care is the best option for the child, and if so what conditions need to be met.     

Commitment of Private and Public Agency Workers to Child Welfare: How Long Do They Plan to Stay?

ABSTRACT

Method: Child welfare professionals completing training to work in foster care were asked about reasons for taking their child welfare position, commitment to their agencies, and commitment to child welfare. Analyses compared responses from new public agency foster care workers (N = 100), public agency workers making lateral transfers to foster care (N = 64), and new private foster care workers (N = 105).

Results: Private agency foster care workers were less committed to their agencies and to child welfare and more likely to have taken the position because it was the only one available.

Conclusions: The practice by public child welfare of outsourcing foster care services to private agencies needs to be evaluated. This practice may not benefit children in care and may create organizational problems for agencies.     

What Makes Good Foster Parents?

Correspondence to Brian Minty, Lecturer in Psychiatric Social Work, Department of Psychiatric, University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT. Summary The assessment of prospective foster parents is an importanttask based on skilled, but largely unevaluated, methods. Thisstudy attempts to describe the characteristics, personal backgroundand motivation of all the foster mothers used by two inner cityteams who had had at least one child placed with them for ayear or more. The chief motivations and childhood experiencesof the foster mothers were compared with ratings made by thefostering officers of their excellence as foster parents. The study confirmed that two motivations for fostering, whichhave often been held to be reasonably good predictors of ‘success’in caring for deprived children, were, in fact, associated withan acknowledgement on the part of experienced fostering officersthat the parents who claimed to act from such motives had agood capacity to fulfil the demanding role of a foster parent:firstly, a desire to parent a child, when it was impossibleto conceive a child of one's own; and secondly, an identificationwith deprived children as a result of unhappy experiences inchildhood—experiences which the foster mothers had hadthe resilience to cope with, and use creatively. In addition,it emerged (somewhat to our surprise) that foster parents whoclaimed to act from motives of social concern and altruism werealso seen by fostering officers to have demonstrated a realability to foster children. Nearly three-quarters of the foster mothers were emphatic thatthe experience of fostering had enhanced the quality of familylife. For childless couples, the satisfaction seemed to comefrom caring for children; but for couples who had children oftheir own, the satisfaction seemed particularly to lie in helpingchildren who had been deprived of a normal home life, and inbringing up children whom they could not see as extensions ofthemselves.     

Adopted foster youths' psychosocial functioning: a longitudinal perspective

Researchers have long debated whether adopted youth manifest disproportionate levels of psychological dysfunction compared with non‐adopted youth. Yet, missing from the debate has been a clear understanding of the specific subgroups of adopted youth who may develop behaviour problems and of the risk factors associated with various vulnerable populations. This longitudinal study examined one subpopulation of adopted youth – former foster children – in order to determine their immediate and long‐term functioning, particularly in comparison with their adopted non‐foster care peers. The central goal of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of behavioural problems in adopted foster youth compared with adopted non‐foster youth and to chart the longitudinal course of their behavioural problems. Participants included adopted foster youth (n = 293) and adopted non‐foster youth (n = 312) from a statewide sample of adopted youth, aged 2–18 years. Data were collected from the adoptive parents at approximately 2, 4 and 8 years after adoption. Adoptive parents rated youths’ functioning with the Behaviour Problems Inventory. According to parental report, a striking number of the foster youth displayed behaviour problems, although the non‐foster care group of children also displayed noteworthy levels of problem behaviours. The rates of behaviour problems in both groups far exceed what is observed in the general population of children.