Adoption by foster carers: a profile of interest and outcomes

Abstract

This paper looks at the issue of adoption by foster carers and in particular its financial aspects. The findings stem from a wider study of remuneration and performance in foster care. Drawing on a survey of 1181 foster carers, this paper examines the characteristics of those who have considered adoption. The outcomes of such consideration, including the part played by financial concerns and anticipated loss of support in decisions to proceed with adoption or not, are also examined. The findings reveal a significant level of interest in adoption on the part of foster carers, to which three particular sets of characteristics are found to be associated. First, interest is greater among those more extensively involved in foster care in terms of experience, specialisms and range of placements offered. Second, it is associated with relatively less concern with payment and less ‘professional’ views of foster care. Third, there is evidence that adoption is more commonly pursued by those who feel less valued by social workers. Fears of losing financial help and support were cited as reasons by more than half of all foster carers who had considered but not pursued adoption.

Understanding the Antecedents to Recruiting Foster Care and Adoptive Parents: A Comparison of White and African-American Families

“…Likewise, the more uncertain a family is about the long-term financial implications of accepting a child, the more unlikely that family will participate. These financial concerns are comparable to those of Kirton, Beecham, and Ogilvie (2006) who found that the loss of financial compensation inhibited foster care families from adopting special needs children.…”

“…Once prospective parents become interested in foster care or special needs adoption, they must go through an extensive decision process including application, selection and training, and some researches do investigate applicants and focus on the selection-decision phase (e.g., Orme et al 2004;Capello 2006). Research also addresses issues involved in motivations for foster parents to commit to permanent adoption (Kirton, Beecham, and Ogilvie 2006) and on retention of existing foster caregivers (e.g., Rehnquist 2002; Rhodes et al 2003). Thus, virtually all of the existing research relevant to recruitment focuses on phases after application.…”

Foster Parents’ Perceptions of Factors Needed for Successful Foster Placements

“…Positive relationships with the agency and workers are reported as necessary for a successful foster placement. Participants in the present study, like those in previous research, indicate that they want to be valued by agency staff (Kirton et al 2006). However the participants in this study also identify the need for consistency and clarity in their role and responsibilities to the foster child, agency and system.…”

“…Their concern for children was apparent ) in a responsive ) but balanced parenting style (Chamberlain et al 2006). Foster parents who had more fostering experience (Chipungu and BentGoodley 2004) and had specialized training were more likely to have success (Kirton et al 2006). Successful foster parents were warm and child-oriented caregivers who had good knowledge of parenting and employed effective problem-solving and child discipline techniques (Linares et al 2006;Pacifici et al 2005).…”

“…Feeling valued and respected by social work staff was linked to placement outcome (Kirton et al 2006). Valued services included professional consultation (Lyons and Rogers 2004), educational assessment (Zetlin et al 2003), individual and family therapy before and during the placement Chamberlain and Smith 2005).…”