FOSTER CARE

Foster Care

Foster Care

Introduction

In many Western countries, the foster care norm is state induced, and children are most often placed in foster care as a result of the child taken into state custody following removal from birth parents. In other parts of the world, such as South America, Asia, and Africa, children routinely fostered on a voluntary basis. In such instances, the child fostered outside of the biological parents' home without any official state intervention. In these cases, children frequently cared for by relatives while maintaining a strong emotional and social bond with their parents. Extending from pre-colonial times through to the present, many children on the African continent have informally fostered over extended periods of time through a culturally sanctioned, informal fostering arrangement. This fostering system has historically allowed for acquisition of skills, offers of labor, companionship, enhanced kinship ties, educational opportunities, and economic resources that are more widely spread within the lineage. However, until the advent of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the majority of children fostered informally did not remain in the care of foster parents for an indefinite period.

With the emergence of HIV/AIDS, the number of children absorbed into households on a more permanent basis has increased dramatically, placing tremendous social and economic strain on households. The cultural norm of purposeful voluntary fostering has replaced by crisis fostering, as traditional, voluntary caregivers succumb to the effects of disease, the pool of potential caregivers reduced, and increasing care demands placed on foster cares. The fundamentals of foster caring differs significantly from one social and cultural context to the next, and constantly re-negotiated in response to changing sociocultural and economic conditions. At present, foster care continues to rest on three basic premises:

The child does not reside in the care of the biological parents;

The foster mother receives some form of reimbursement for meeting childcare demands, and

Rights over the child are not legally transferred to an alternative, socially sanctioned parent.

Defining Foster Care

Foster care is out-of-home care for a child who has removed from his or her parent or caretaker. The foster parents, usually a third party, care for the child in a private home setting. In most cases, the foster parents licensed and supervised by a social service agency. During the investigation stage, the abused victim placed in foster care by the social worker only when his or her staying home with the abusive parent may pose an additional risk of victimization. Under certain conditions, the social worker can put the child in foster care or a group home without the parent's consent. In that case, the social worker requires authorization from the court. Foster care allows a social worker to observe the behavior of the child without the influence of his or her parents. The social worker, with the assistance of foster parents, may then be able to pinpoint specific developmental problems of the child, including communication skill deficits. In many cases, the abusive parent regularly sees the child in foster care to maintain a constructive ...