Social functioning and mental health among children who have been living in kinship and non‐kinship foster care: results from an 8‐year follow‐up with a Norwegian sample

Studies have shown relatively high rates of emotional and behavioural problems among children living in out‐of‐home care. This study reports the prevalence of social problems at an 8‐year follow‐up for a group of children/young adults. Predictors for prevalence and change in emotional and behavioural problems at the follow‐up are examined. A prospective cohort design with 233 children who had been living in foster care was used. Forty‐eight per cent (n = 111) of those interviewed at baseline were located and interviewed at follow‐up. Mean age was 17.4 (standard deviation = 2.9) years. Mental health symptomatology was measured with Child Behaviour Checklist and Adult Self‐Report. Linear and generalized mixed model analyses were used. Changes in internalizing and externalizing problems from baseline to follow‐up was associated with gender. Boys showed more problems at a young age, whereas girls developed more problems later. Predictors for social problems at follow‐up were mental health at baseline, kinship care and care placement away from the local community.     

Contact between birth parents and children in kinship care in a sample from Spain

Within the context of kinship care, the main objectives of this work are to study the characteristics of contact between foster children and their birth parents, and their relationship with key variables of fostering, the children and their kinship caregivers. The sample included 189 children from Spain and their kinship families. A semi‐structured placement interview and two scales relating to the child–caregiver relationship and child's psychological adjustment were used with the kinship families. The results revealed a significant percentage of foster children who had no family contact. Various visit types, frequencies and durations were described. Kinship care with contact, compared with placements without contact, was frequently characterized by the absence of professional supervision, and an affectionate child–caregiver relationship; moreover, children with contact were perceived to have fewer serious behaviour and socio‐emotional problems and a greater probability of family reunification. The regression analysis showed that the main predictors for how caregivers assessed contact were the children's emotional reaction during visits and the quality of the relationship between the kinship families and the birth parents. These results suggest the need for further research about contact, which will certainly have a major impact on professional intervention with these families.     

Traditional kinship foster care in northern Ghana: the experiences and views of children, carers and adults in Tamale

Surveys were employed to explore the experiences of children in care and their carers about traditional fostering. They also examined the perspectives of randomly selected adults in the community about the practice of traditional foster care in the Tamale area of northern Ghana. The 74 participants responded to closed- and open-ended interview questions about traditional foster care. Frequencies and thematic grouping of qualitative responses showed that the need to keep family ties alive was the key reason for placement of children with family and kin. Majority of the children expressed satisfaction with living in foster care, even though they had experienced physical and emotional abuse and intimidation. Although most carers were not formally employed and had little personal income, they were positive about having the care role, but faced challenges in providing for many children in a difficult economic situation. The report highlights the role of reciprocity, altruistic and socio-cultural factors in quality of care, and the potential for the traditional kinship foster care to provide suitable avenues of placement for children as recommended by the Ghana child rights law. It also identifies the need for education for carers around children's needs and Ghana's child rights law.     

How do placements in kinship care compare with those in non‐kin foster care: placement patterns,progress and outcomes?

As the use of kinship care is set to rise in England, it is important that policy and practice developments are based on firm evidence about kin placement outcomes and how these compare with those in stranger foster care. The research reported in this paper was based on case file reviews of 270 children, half in kin placements and half in stranger foster care, and on interviews with a sub-sample of 32 kin carers, social workers, children and parents. Kin carers were found to be significantly more disadvantaged than stranger foster carers: more kin carers were lone carers, with health problems, living in overcrowded conditions and had financial difficulties. The children, in contrast, were remarkably similar in the two kinds of placement. The main differences between the children in the two settings are examined in the paper. The children's progress and outcomes in terms of placement quality and disruption were very similar in the two settings, but kin placements lasted longer, mainly because fewer were planned as interim placements. However, because kin carers persisted with very challenging children and yet received fewer services than stranger foster carers, they were more often under strain. The implications for policy and practice are examined.     

‘It's about the whole family’: family contact for children in kinship care

Contact with family for children in care is identified as a right under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, such contact often presents challenges because of the protective concerns that have led to care arrangements being made. The Family Links: Kinship Care and Family Contact research study explored the nature and extent of family contact in kinship care, with a particular focus on the circumstances that create positive contact and foster family relationships. Findings included evidence of a large proportion of parental contact that was negatively affecting children's well‐being, and was sometimes unsafe. By contrast, the frequent contact that children were enjoying with their siblings and wider family was reported to be mostly positive and supportive. Kinship carers described a range of services needed to facilitate more positive parental contact and to enable children to keep contact with significant family members.     

The social support in kinship foster care: a way to enhance resilience

This paper analyses how social support enhances family resilience in kinship foster families by involving the families in an educational group programme. Sixty‐two kinship foster families from Spain participated in the research. The data were collected before the programme (interviews) and after the programme (interviews and focus groups), and these were analysed by content analysis with the programme Atlas.ti. The results show that the factors that contribute most to the development of family resilience are as follows: (i) feeling able to look for solutions when facing problems; (ii) an increase of their network of formal support; (iii) being able to offer support to other foster families; and (iv) feeling that the support they give to parents' foster children is socially recognized.     

The social networks of young people in Ireland with experience of long‐term foster care: some lessons for policy and practice

This paper presents findings from the first study of the social networks of a group of young people in Ireland who have experienced long‐term foster care. The study group was composed of two groups of young people, a group who were currently in care and a group who had left the care system. The central focus was to examine the impact of foster care on the social network experience of the young people. Findings indicated that foster care impacts on the young people's social network experience in the following ways: losing contact with extended family; a greater challenge in making and sustaining friendships; an impact on education; and an inability to maintain contact with groups and activities that are of significance. This paper also presents recommendations in relation to policy and practice, including the raising of awareness of the importance of a social network approach in working with young people with care experience.     

We care about care: advice by children in care for children in care,foster parents and child welfare workers about the transition into foster care

Twenty children in foster care, ages 8 to 15 years, provided advice to children in care, foster parents and child welfare workers about ways to assist service delivery during the transition into foster care. The children discussed the importance of tending to experiences such as foster home expectations, the importance of time and information, the new foster/parent–child relationship, coping with stress, the ability to be engaged in decision‐making, the benefits of foster care and the need to build a trusting and personal relationship between children in care and their caregivers. The importance of listening to children's experiences of the transition into foster care and incorporating their advice into future research, policy and practice will be discussed.     

Post‐secondary transitions of youth emancipated from foster care

This study investigated the extent to which KnowHow2Go (KH2Go), a national college access campaign developed for first‐generation students in the USA, would resonate with youth who had aged out of foster care. Interviews were conducted with 27 youth who were enrolled in a post‐secondary programme following emancipation from foster care. We found KH2Go to have a close fit with the experiences of youth who had been in foster care. Four topics emerged as particularly important for youth in our study: money management, work, parenting and transportation. Finally, the study identified attributes these youth demonstrated that contributed to their resilience during the transition process. This study and the data presented pertain to youth living in the south‐eastern USA.     

The nature and prevalence of kinship care: Focus on young kinship carers

Young kinship carers tend to be overlooked in kinship care policy and practice. This Australian research project explored the prevalence of kinship care households in Australia, with a particular focus on households headed by young kinship carers. Census data were utilized to explore the number of kinship care households across the carer age spectrum and some of their characteristics, including households with Indigenous carers and carers with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) identity. Characteristics of households headed by carers aged 16–30 years were explored in some detail, and comparisons made with young parents. The data pointed to particular challenges for young kinship carers in relation to post‐secondary education, employment and income security. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

'I made some mistakes . . . but I love them dearly' the views of parents of children in informal kinship care

In-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 parents of children living with relatives in informal kinship care arrangements revealed the parents' views of the reasons for the informal kinship care arrangements, quality of their relationships with the children and their caregivers, their current and future roles in their children's lives, feelings experienced when with and away from the children, positive and negative aspects of kinship care, future goals and dreams for their children, and their assessments of their own strengths and challenges. Results of these interviews suggest several implications for social work practice and research.     

Supporting foster and kinship carers to promote the mental health of children

The majority of children and young people removed from the care of their parents by the state of Victoria, Australia, reside in foster or kinship care. These children have experienced a broad range of adverse conditions and are up to 4 times more likely to experience problems with mental health than their mainstream peers. This paper draws on the perspectives of foster and kinship carers, describing the disconnection between their role as mental health advocates and their interest in early intervention in a field which is dominated by crisis and the historic marginalisation of foster and kinship carers. Thirty‐one foster and kinship carers across greater metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this study through interviews and focus groups. Participants demonstrated a practical understanding of mental health and an ability to identify a range of conditions that have an adverse impact on the mental health of children and young people in their care. The paper concludes that there is a lack of systemic support and even a range of barriers that affect the capacity of foster and kinship carers to promote the mental health and well‐being of the children and young people in their care.     

Improving outcomes for children in out‐of‐home care: the role of therapeutic foster care

How best to support children and young people in foster care remains a challenge for child welfare. There has been little Australian research on the outcomes for children and young people placed in therapeutic foster care (TFC). This article aims to address this knowledge gap, presenting the evaluation of a state‐wide model of TFC known as the Circle Program operating in Victoria, Australia. Data sources for the study were case assessment analysis; surveys of foster carers, program workers and other stakeholders in the sector; and both focus groups and individual interviews with foster care workers. The evaluation found that the Circle Program lessened the number of unplanned exits of children from foster placements compared with generalist foster care. Another important finding was that the Circle Program positively influenced foster carers' decisions to stay in the carer role. Key components perceived as contributing to outcomes of the Circle Program included enhanced training of foster carers, intensive carer support, specialist therapeutic support to the child and carer, therapeutic service to family members and a network of services to provide support to the child.     

Courts,care proceedings and outcomes uncertainty: The challenges of achieving and assessing “good outcomes” for children after child protection proceedings

The professed aim of any social welfare or legal intervention in family life is often to bring about “better outcomes for the children.” But there is considerable ambiguity about “outcomes,” and the term is far too often used in far too simplistic a way. This paper draws on empirical research into the outcomes of care proceedings for a randomly selected sample of 616 children in England and Wales, about half starting proceedings in 2009–2010 and the others in 2014–2015. The paper considers the challenges of achieving and assessing “good outcomes” for the children. Outcomes are complex and fluid for all children, whatever the court order. One has to assess the progress of the children in the light of their individual needs and in the context of “normal” child development, and in terms of the legal provisions and policy expectations. A core paradox is that some of the most uncertain outcomes are for children who remain with or return to their parents; yet law and policy require that first consideration is given to this option. Greater transparency about the uncertainty of outcomes is a necessary step towards better understanding the risks and potential benefits of care proceedings.     

A tangled web: parental contact with children in kinship care

Contact between parents and children in care is a contested area. Parental contact is recognized to be important, yet may present protective issues; in the kinship care environment, it brings the particular challenges of complex family relationships. Seeking the parents' perspective in a child protection context is difficult and therefore under‐researched. This paper describes a nested study within an Australian research project on family contact in kinship care in which the perspectives of 18 mothers and 2 fathers were sought via in‐depth interviews. Mothers and fathers described strong feelings of disempowerment in the context both of their family and the child protection system. The relationship between parent and caregiver emerged as a significant issue. All of the parents wished to remain in contact with their children in a meaningful way, whether or not they were likely to resume their children's care; however, contact arrangements presented many difficulties for them. Mothers articulated the need for services that are more empowering and respectful, rather than oriented towards them as failed parents. In order to build appropriate models of support and intervention, we argue for a more inclusive conceptual frame for family life that gives greater recognition to the role of non‐custodial parents in the lives of their children.     

The role of informal caregivers in the well‐being of orphans in Botswana: a literature review

With the orphan population escalating, communities continue to rely on relatives to provide care to orphans. Therefore, there is a need to explore the role of caregivers with regard to the well‐being of orphans, the challenges they face, as well as how they could be empowered to be more responsive to children's needs. The paper acknowledges that informal caregivers play an important role in the lives of orphans. The paper also concedes that, in the process, caregivers are faced with challenges which make it difficult for them to fulfil their responsibilities and roles. As a result, they sometimes act as sources of stress to orphans, which eventually complicate the children's adjustment to the loss of their parents. Lastly, the paper paves the way to ensuring that challenges faced by informal caregivers are addressed in a manner that will make them more supportive to orphans.     

“Helping teenagers in care flourish: What parenting research tells us about foster care”

In this article, I review a range of theoretical and practical issues that are relevant to the foster care of teenagers. I argue that topics such as the recent research evidence from neuroscience regarding brain development in adolescence, as well as control, the promotion of autonomy, and resilience, all have major implications for the provision of appropriate care for teenagers. I outline some of the key conclusions reached by researchers on these pertinent topics and then go on to consider the implications from this evidence for the training of foster carers.     

Children taken into care and custody and the ‘troubled families’ agenda in England

Children taken into care and custody are arguably the most vulnerable and problematic groups within the wider debate and responses developing to the ‘troubled families’ agenda in England. They represent what the state most wants to avoid when it intervenes in the life of a family. This paper is based on an analysis of the service involvement and needs of the 196 children taken into care or custody over a 3‐year period (2008–2011) in one city local authority in England. The research was undertaken to inform the response to prevention of entry into care and custody which was the original focus of the most intensive part of the troubled families programme in the city. Interviews with 10 senior professionals from a range of agencies involved in setting up this local programme, explored the way the emerging troubled families agenda was shaping ideas about the understanding of and response to the needs of these children and their families. Key findings of the study illustrate the range and complexity of need as well as the sequence and amount of agency involvement. Professionals were often critical of the thinking behind the troubled families agenda, but were positive and creative about new ways of working with these families.     

Instability and caregiving in the lives of street‐involved youth from foster care

A large proportion of youth who become street‐involved have experience in foster care, and our sample of 92 street‐involved youth, aged 14–18 years, all had foster care experience. We report on (i) instability of guardians and home from birth to street involvement; (ii) the connection between perceptions about foster care and measures of well‐being; and (iii) the implications of these findings for understanding street‐involved youth and the role of foster care in their life. The average number of transitions per youth from birth to mid‐teens was nine. Youth with experience in permanent care first lived away from biological parents at age 8.5 years, and for those with temporary care experience, it was age 10 years. Foster care was one of many living situations and one of several sources of caregivers. If participants were satisfied with foster care, they were more likely to be currently hopeful and happy. Participants who experienced positive influences from at least one long‐term caregiver tended to have other positive caregiver experiences, and those with negative influences were more likely to also have a positive relationship with a female caregiver. Foster care was one of several ‘way stations’ in their lives, one whose meaning needs further study.