Literature review: Foster carer attraction, recruitment, support and retention

Thomson, Lorraine; McArthur, Morag; Watt, Elizabeth

doi:10.24268/fhs.8304

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(201 reference statements)

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“…Earlier research identified the availability of post-adoption support as an influence on foster carer decisions about adoption (Thomson et al, 2016 among carers about the role of agencies in supporting contact. For these carers, agency involvement was a buffer between themselves and birth relatives, particularly parents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Loss of agency support with contact was the most common reason cited by survey respondents not to consider open adoption and was a widespread concern among all focus group participants. Earlier research identified the availability of post‐adoption support as an influence on foster carer decisions about adoption (Thomson et al, ). The findings in this study extend this knowledge by identifying support with contact as a particular aspect of post‐adoption support that affects whether foster carers consider adopting a children in their care in Australia, where direct birth family contact is the norm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This finding is consistent with previous international studies, which indicate that people who have adopted or fostered a child, or know someone who has, are more likely to view adoption and fostering positively and consider doing it (Scott & Duncan, ; Tyebjee, ). The availability of post‐adoption support has also been identified as a key influence on foster carer decision‐making about adoption (Thomson, Watt, & McArthur, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How foster carers experience agency support for birth family contact

Collings

Wright

Spencer

et al. 2019

Child & Family Social Work

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Long-term foster carers in New South Wales, Australia, are being encouraged to consider open adoption of the child in their care. This includes an agreement to facilitate direct or face-to-face birth family contact without agency support. There is little Australian research on the factors that influence decisions to adopt children from out-of-home care. A mixed methods study was conducted to address this gap. An online survey (n = 76) and four focus groups (n = 30) were conducted with foster carers across New South Wales. Descriptive and thematic analysis was undertaken.Results related to birth family contact are reported. Birth family contact was an area of widespread concern among foster carers. The theme of Relationships with birth family included four subordinate themes: (a) disputed purpose, (b) supervision versus independence, (c) ambivalence about agencies, and (d) establishing boundaries. Foster carers viewed birth family contact as extremely challenging due to its effects on children and interactions with agency staff. For open adoption or guardianship to become the preferred permanency option for children over long-term foster care, carers will need ongoing and appropriate professional support with contact.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How foster carers experience agency support for birth family contact

Collings

Wright

Spencer

et al. 2019

Child & Family Social Work

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“…There are also persistent issues related to foster carer recruitment and retention in the US (Hanlon et al., 2021; Melz, Killian and Graham, 2019; Wulczyn et al., 2018), the UK (Blackburn, 2016; Ofsted, 2021) and Australia (Harding et al., 2018; Randle et al., 2017; Sammut, 2017; Thomson, McArthur and Watt, 2016), resulting in insufficient numbers of carers. Finances and family circumstances are common factors precluding recruitment (Randle et al., 2017; Thomson, McArthur and Watt, 2016), with some carers discontinuing due to age or unrelated family issues (Osborn et al., 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An exploration of the self-care practices of foster carers in Australia

Gowan

Peel

Elcombe

et al. 2023

Adoption & Fostering

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Practising self-care is vital for foster carers to cope with the stresses of the caring role, provide the best care possible and continue in their task. This current study contributes to emerging research on the self-care practices of foster carers in Australia and worldwide. It used an exploratory design, surveying 148 foster carers about their self-care and conducting individual, semi-structured interviews enabling nine of them to elaborate on their self-care experiences. The results indicate that while the participants sometimes engage in self-care and value it as a way of maintaining their wellbeing and increasing their caregiving capacity, they face several barriers to doing this. These include the multiple responsibilities of the foster carer role, children’s commitments, employment and finances. Facilitators of self-care include social and family support, contact with other carers and carer respite. Foster care agencies and the out-of-home care system should aim to meet the self-care needs of carers by providing increased support, resources and education.

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“…Finally, in terms of the will to continue fostering children, retention success is not easily defined and may be different for different types of caring models [20]. Nevertheless, Sinclair et al [21] state that foster carers must feel supported; therefore, the principles of the kind of fostering that carers are asked to undertake must fit with foster families' situations and preferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Diogo

Branco

2020

Sustainability

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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.

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Literature review: Foster carer attraction, recruitment, support and retention

Cited by 5 publications

References 80 publications

How foster carers experience agency support for birth family contact

How foster carers experience agency support for birth family contact

An exploration of the self-care practices of foster carers in Australia

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

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