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Family foster care is increasingly and commonly used in the USA
for young people who come to the attention of the child welfare system in
private as well as public agency settings. According to estimates by the U.S.A.
Department of Health and Human Services, typically over half a million children
and youths are placed in out-of-home care, mostly in foster care.
As of October 2000:
150.487 (26%) were placed with relatives;
272.036 (48%) with non-related foster families;
43.537 (8%) in group homes;
53.534 (9%) in institutional settings;
and 19.463 (3%) in pre-adoptive homes.
The rest (6%) were in supervised independent living (4.946),
runaways (7.630),
Or on 'trial home visits' (16.368)
(U.S.A. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2000).
For the most part, in comparison to those placed in family
foster care, young persons enter group care with more serious behavioral
problems and adjust poorly to life following discharge from care.
The assessment of processes and outcomes in family foster care presents quite a
challenge, as there is limited systematic research. This paper reviews such
research, following consideration of the objectives of family foster care.
Objectives of family foster care
Placement of young persons in family foster care occurs in
situations in which the parents or relatives are unwilling or unable to provide
adequately for their children due to a variety of reasons, including in
particular child abuse or neglect. The central objectives of such care are
outlined below.
- Providing safety for the child or youth to avoid further maltreatment
and protect her or him from physical and/or emotional harm.
- Enhancing child well-being, through improvement in behavioral
functioning, emotional development, physical health, and academic
performance.
- Promoting permanency planning for the child or youth, that is, helping
her or him to live in a safe birth family or in another family setting that
offers adequate care as well as a sense of belonging and life-long family
ties.
To achieve the above-stated objectives, family foster care is
typically conceptualized as a comprehensive family support service, with the
family regarded as the central focus of attention. On the basis of comprehensive
assessment and case planning, its major functions include protection in
emergency situations; intervention when the family is in crisis; family
reunification; preparation for adoption; or preparation for independent living.
Placement in family foster care ideally is planned carefully, in
order to provide services and opportunities that help families to be
rehabilitated and children to grow up and develop optimally. Furthermore, such
placement is for the most part time-limited, so as to avoid the drifting of
children from one living arrangement to another and to promote permanency
planning.
In addition, planning for placement should take into account the
dimension of race and ethnicity of child, birth family, and foster family — a
dimension which is largely neglected in the studies that will be reviewed. In
particular, in the provision of services there should be attention to the
significance and potential impact of human diversity and variations in such
areas as family norms, child-rearing practices, and parent-child as well as
family relationships. Such attention could serve to 'develop more responsive
programs that will better meet the particular needs of families from diverse
backgrounds.' (Martin, 2000, p. 198). |
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