SECONDARY FOSTER CARERS

Secondary Foster Carers: Exploring Social Workers Views and Experiences

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

Abstract

Foster carers have typically been found to play a key role in meeting the needs of foster children, yet little research has investigated their well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care. The current study investigated the relationships of child behavioural and emotional problems, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship, to foster carer well-being, satisfaction with fostering and intention to continue providing out-of-home care. Foster carers completed self-report measures of the above factors, as well as, foster carer and child demographics and placement factors. Univariately, foster carer well-being was predicted by foster care training, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship. Similarly, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship were also significantly related to foster carer satisfaction. Intention to continue providing out-of-home care was predicted by parenting self-efficacy. No significant associations were identified when multi-variate analyses were conducted, however. Clinical implications of the results are discussed, including the importance of continuing to refine and evaluate foster care training and interventions aimed to improve the self-efficacy of foster carers. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are also discussed.

Table of Content

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT2

ABSTRACT3

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION6

The aims of the study therefore are:12

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW13

Background Context of Fostering13

Relevant Research18

Legal and Policy Context:21

The case for Support:22

Assessing foster carers:27

Underpinning theories:30

Satisfaction in Secondary foster-carer Performance32

The typology of foster care40

Child welfare professionals and foster care43

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY47

Materials49

CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION51

Interview Analysis56

Discussion57

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION63

REFERENCES73

APPENDIX90

Chapter 1: Introduction

Although foster care has become the primary form of provision for lookedafter children in the UK, with 66 per cent of children in the care system living in foster families in 2002 (Department of Health, 2003), by the late 1990s it was thought to have reached a crisis. Inadequacies in the health care and education of looked-after children had been highlighted for some time, as had the difficulty of delivering stable placements. However, the most pressing concern identified in recent times has been the shortage of placements, especially for adolescents and ethnic minorities (Triseliotis et al., 1995; Department of Health, 1996; ADSS, 1997; Waterhouse, 1997; NFCA, 1997, 1998; Triseliotis et al., 2000; Department of Health, 2002) and this has been exacerbated by changes in the looked-after population since the implementation of the 1989 Children Act. At the same time, the growth of the independent foster care sector has heightened the difficulties in recruiting local authority foster carers. The development of the Quality Protects and now the Choice Protects initiative has given considerable momentum to addressing these concerns. In this context, there is a need for research that can guide local authorities when making decisions about how best to retain and support their foster carers. Certainly, concerns have been expressed for some time in the literature about the effects on foster carers of fostering breakdown and of allegations of ...