Unaccompanied children in Flemish family foster care. Prevalence and associated factors of placement breakdown

Foster care for unaccompanied refugee children

“…Therefore, we used a more relaxed significance level of 10% instead of the more common 5%. This is in line with the study of Van Holen et al (2020). Several variables (child factors: residence permit of child, contact with biological family of the child, acculturation strategy of the child;…”

“…The differences between unaccompanied refugee children and those in regular foster care, together with the limited research into the outcomes of foster placements for unaccompanied refugee children (Barrie & Mendes, 2011;Hek, 2007;Wade et al, 2012), indicate the need for a study that focuses solely on unaccompanied refugee children in foster care (Van Holen et al, 2020). The outcomes of a previous study have contributed to the rationale for the current study.…”

“…For unaccompanied refugee children, few studies into placement termination or breakdown have been carried out. Van Holen et al (2020) highlighted that only two relevant studies systematically examined characteristics associated with placement breakdown (i.e., Crea et al, 2017;Linowitz & Boothby, 1988).…”

“…Previous studies have also highlighted that foster placements are often considered the most preferred type of alternative care for unaccompanied refugee children (Van Holen et al, 2020;Wade, 2019). Similarly, this holds for children with serious psychosocial and family problems placed in regular foster care (Van Schoonlandt et 1 We prefer not to use abbreviations (such as URM or URC) for children.…”

“…Similarly, of unaccompanied refugee children (Wade, 2019), those in foster care 18 are faring best and are -according to research in the Netherlands (Kalverboer et al, 2016) -most positive about their place in society compared to children staying in other care facilities, such as small living units, children's living groups, and campuses. Nevertheless, reasons for entering foster care differ between unaccompanied refugee children and children in regular foster care (Crea et al, 2017;Van Holen et al, 2020), as do their needs and experiences (Wade, 2019).…”