Parenting fostered adolescents: skills and strategies

Abstract

This paper discusses findings from a recently completed study of adolescent foster care, which included a detailed assessment of the parenting approaches and strategies used by the foster carers of adolescents in long‐term placements. Sixty‐eight foster carers were interviewed at two points in time. The first interview was conducted two months after the start of a new adolescent placement and the second after the placement had been continuing for a year, or at the point of disruption if this occurred earlier. The interview schedules were designed specifically for this study and were based upon well‐established techniques developed in other studies of parenting. They enabled the researchers to make summary ratings for each carer on established dimensions of parenting such as control and discipline, responsiveness and the level of engagement with the child. The researchers assessed how these strategies changed and developed in relation to the young person's behaviour and whether these approaches influenced either the likelihood of placement disruption or the quality of the placement for the child. This paper describes the parenting strategies used by the foster carers, highlighting the areas of parenting that significantly affected the placement outcomes and the corresponding implications for policy and practice.

Providing Foster Care for Adolescents: Barriers and Opportunities

“…However, older foster parents and those who themselves were fostered as a child, were more likely to express a desire to foster a teen. This finding is consistent with other research suggesting a decision to care for a teen can represent a commitment to this particular population (Lipscombe et al, 2003). Foster parents may also become more comfortable with the idea of fostering an adolescent as they and their own children grow older (Gibbs & Wildfire, 2007).…”

“…As stated earlier in the literature review, fostering adolescents can be both a satisfying and complicated endeavor (e.g., Lipscombe et al, 2003;Sallnäs et al, 2004). Foster parents and teens need support in managing behaviors resulting from a history of maltreatment and complex relationships associated with entering the child welfare system later in childhood (Farmer et al, 2005;Golding, 2004).…”

“…Research suggests that parents who continue to foster adolescents are more likely to have received training specific to this population and the emotional and behavioral difficulties that may accompany it (Rhodes, Orme, & Buehler, 2001). Fewer placement disruptions were also noted when foster parents were able to respond to the adolescent's emotional age and when adolescents were allowed to discuss their past (Lipscombe et al, 2003).…”

“…Former foster youth positively appraised foster placements when parents let them play an active role in daily activities, decision-making, and acceptance of responsibility creating an active role in their own development and success (Reimer, 2010). Lipscombe, Farmer, and Moyers (2003) identified four strategies common to parents fostering adolescents, which did not vary based on behavior: (a) setting and maintaining appropriate boundaries, (b) providing higher rates of supervision, (c) responding with sensitivity to the youth's developmental age, and (d) extending warmth and acceptance toward the youth. Providing social services and education to foster parents has also been found to increase their understanding of the youth they serve while offering ongoing support and guidance (Golding, 2004).…”

The experiences of carers in using shared activities to communicate with looked‐after young people about alcohol, tobacco, and drug use

“…Previous research has highlighted that looked-after young people have difficulties in developing relationships with carers and in communicating with them (Biehal, 2014;Lipscombe, Farmer, & Moyers, 2003;Rosnati, Iafrate, & Scabini, 2007); these perceptions were also echoed by carers in the current study. In previous studies, all participants were men; in the current study, young people and carers of both sexes participated.…”