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

Abstract

A B S T R AC TThis 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 it was analysed by content analysis with the program Atlas.ti. The results show that the factors that contribute most to the development of family resilience are (i) feeling able to look for solutions when faced with 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.

‘They didn't tell me anything; they just sent me home’: children's participation in the return home

“…In this sense, Fernández del Valle & Fuertes () note the importance of saying goodbye to all individuals who have accompanied the child most intensely during his or her period of separation from the family (Fuentes‐Peláez et al . ; Balsells et al . ) because of the importance of the bonds the child has created while staying with peers, professionals or host family members, among other reasons.…”

“…Situations involving abandonment and foster care have significant emotional impacts (Mateos et al 2012), and aggressive management of the resulting emotions is required, particularly immediately prior to the achievement of the objective of family reunification: the return home . In this sense, Fernández del Valle & Fuertes (2007) note the importance of saying goodbye to all individuals who have accompanied the child most intensely during his or her period of separation from the family (Fuentes-Peláez et al 2014;Balsells et al 2015) because of the importance of the bonds the child has created while staying with peers, professionals or host family members, among other reasons. Saying goodbye to the host family or centre is crucial to the success of the return home.…”

Measures for social support in raising a child with a disability: A scoping review

“…Social support is an important family resource (Migerode, Maes, Buysse, & Brondeel, ) as a mediator for coping with stressors (Tak & McCubbin, ), offering several positive outcomes for caregivers, the child, and the family as a whole (Bailey, Nelson, Hebbeler, & Spiker, ). Specific outcomes of social support relate to the life of the caregiver (Canary, ; Ekas, Lickenbrock, & Whitman, ) and act as a valuable protective factor for the caregiver when raising a child with a disability (Fuentes‐Peláez, Balsells, Fernández, Vaquero, & Amorós, ). Social support is argued to influence the adaptability of caregivers who face stressful and challenging situations (Benzies & Mychasiuk, ; McConnell & Savage, ) by improving coping strategies (Tang, Jang, & Copeland, ) and caregiving abilities to appraise challenges they face (Mhaka‐Mutepfa, Cumming, & Mpofu, ).…”

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

“…In many cases, there is also a lack of information, training, follow‐up and professional support (Cuddeback ; Farmer & Moyers ; Fuentes‐Peláez et al . ; Montserrat ; Palacios & Jiménez ). Foster children and adolescents often display psychological and behaviour problems (Bernedo et al .…”

“…These difficulties include issues for caregivers arising from the generational gap, lack of economic resources, low educational levels and health problems. In many cases, there is also a lack of information, training, follow-up and professional support (Cuddeback 2004;Farmer & Moyers 2008;Fuentes-Peláez et al 2014;Montserrat 2008;Palacios & Jiménez 2009). Foster children and adolescents often display psychological and behaviour problems Van Holen et al 2015), and more specifically, this also occurs in kinship foster children (Bernedo 2004;Jiménez & Palacios 2008).…”