The Foster Family Process to Maintain the Will to Remain in Foster Care—Implications for a Sustainable Programme

Abstract

There were 7032 children in out-of-home care in 2018 in Portugal. Of these, only 2.8% were in foster care, despite this being the recommended response according to legal regulations. It is critical that more families be encouraged to become foster carers and also that experienced carers stay in the system to create a sustainable programme. How is the will to foster a child maintained? What can we learn from foster families’ experiences to improve childcare and the child protection system? The methodology of this study was based on interviews with foster carers. The analysis was inspired by grounded theory. We found three types of foster families, classified according to their will to leave or remain in foster care—unconditional, hesitant, or retired. The results suggest that the key elements for foster carers to remain in the foster care system are (i) their level of satisfaction with how the previous placement concluded, (ii) keeping in touch with the ex-foster child, (iii) the feeling of acknowledgement by all the stakeholders, and (iv) the quality of social services as well as the support of the professional teams.

The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee—Evidence-Based Recommendations for Alternative Care

“…These authors [ 74 ] analysing several studies, found that retention of foster families is closely related to factors within the child protection system, such as foster child characteristics; personal or family characteristics; and placement challenges, as well as relationship with services and professional support, in line with Portuguese studies, e.g., Diogo and Branco [ 75 ]. It is highlighted that not only close and warm relationships between professionals and foster families are relevant to helping them adequately deal with diverse challenges, but also specific training is needed—on empathic relationships to prevent significant problems between foster families and services, and on educational strategies, expectations of the foster child and Foster Care system, and promoting positive attitudes towards the foster child’s family and their life history [ 74 ].…”

Perceived barriers, drivers and enablers to becoming a foster family: An exploratory study in Portugal

“…Research suggests that foster families identify multiple reasons for fostering (Randle et al, 2012;Rhodes et al, 2006). These reasons can be centered on the foster child, on the foster family/self, or oriented towards the community (De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2020;Migliorini et al, 2018;Rodger et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012;Tyebjee, 2003). On one hand, the reasons centered on the foster child are focused on their needs and are guided by altruistic values (e.g., a desire to protect and help a child; a desire to provide care and development opportunities) (Buehler et al, 2003;Contreras & Muñoz, 2016;De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2017, 2020Rodger et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012).…”

“…These reasons can be centered on the foster child, on the foster family/self, or oriented towards the community (De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2020;Migliorini et al, 2018;Rodger et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012;Tyebjee, 2003). On one hand, the reasons centered on the foster child are focused on their needs and are guided by altruistic values (e.g., a desire to protect and help a child; a desire to provide care and development opportunities) (Buehler et al, 2003;Contreras & Muñoz, 2016;De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2017, 2020Rodger et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012). On the other hand, self-oriented reasons are focused on the foster family needs and interests (e.g., to have more money, to fill the empty nest or to deal with not having biological children) (Andersson, 2001;De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2017;Migliorini et al, 2018;Randle et al, 2012;Rhodes et al, 2006;Rodger et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012;Tyebjee, 2003).…”

“…The role of foster parents can be classified as challenging but also as being a valuable and fulfilling experience (Blackburn, 2016;Diogo & Branco, 2017, 2020. A lack of public knowledge about the foster care system and a lack of awareness about the role of foster parents are seen as persistent problems to recruit and retain new families (Contreras & Muñoz, 2016;Diogo & Branco, 2017;Goodman et al, 2016;Randle et al, 2012;Scott & Duncan, 2013;Sebba, 2012), even though some evidence exists about positive public opinions and support for foster families (Leber & LeCroy, 2012;Riggs & Due, 2018).…”

“…It has been argued that reliable information about the foster care system (e.g., procedures, admission criteria, and the support provided to foster families) should be more visible to community samples (Contreras & Muñoz, 2016), which is ultimately expected to increase the likelihood that more people become foster families (De Maeyer et al, 2014;Randle et al, 2012;Sebba, 2012). As such, there is a need for expanding knowledge about public opinions, enablers, but also barriers for becoming a foster family, to be able to inform policies and practices of recruitment and selection of new families (Andersson, 2001;De Maeyer et al, 2014;Diogo & Branco, 2020;Rhodes et al, 2006;Sebba, 2012). This is particularly true of the Portuguese context as there is a significant predominance of residential care to protect children that need to be removed from their living environment.…”