Satisfaction, willingness, and well-being: Examining the perceptions of a statewide sample of public and private foster parents

Foster Caregiver Experiences: Implications for Retention and Satisfaction

“…Foster parents in our study who received more of these types of support also reported more effective training, more parenting efficacy, fewer challenges with fostering, and less parenting stress and grief. Contradictory to Griffiths et al (2021), this study did not find the association between type of agency (public or private) on the outcome measures. It is possible that regardless of the type of agency, the trainings they receive and the support they perceive from the agency are more salient for determining satisfaction and continuation of foster care.…”

“…Existing research suggests that certain parenting characteristics, such as parental self-efficacy, may influence a foster caregiver’s decision to provide continuous foster care or to close their home to future placements (e.g., Geiger et al, 2013; Whenan et al, 2009). For example, foster parental satisfaction has been found to associate with certain parenting characteristics, such as competence with handling children, the willingness to provide foster children a loving family (Denby et al, 1999), parenting self-efficacy (Whenan et al, 2009), a personal sense of accomplishment (Griffiths et al, 2021), and the relationship quality between foster caregivers and foster children (Whenan et al, 2009). Further, evidence suggests that a lack of self-efficacy is the primary reason for foster caregivers to discontinue providing care (Geiger et al, 2013).…”

“…The overall level of parental satisfaction has also been linked with certain agency characteristics, such as perceived financial and practical support from agencies (Randle et al, 2018), the perceived adequacy of support from agencies (Denby et al, 1999; Mallette et al, 2020), and agency type, with foster parents from public agencies being significantly more satisfied than those partnering with private agencies (Griffiths et al, 2021). In addition to agency characteristics, the availability and perceived efficacy of foster parent training has also been found to be related to foster caregiver’s satisfaction.…”