•The presence of parents in their child's life and the possibilities of reunification with them are predicted by.•The quality of the parent–child relationship and the mobilization of parents.•The ...time factor.•Parents' pathologies and the consequences on their children.•Type of family and family relationship.•It is essential to work intensively with the parents at an early stage to maximise the possibilities of reunification.
The aim of this article was to identify factors that may influence the presence of parents and the possibilities of reunification with their foster children.
We find that there are 4 main areas that influence the presence of parents in their child's life and the possibilities of reunification with them.-The quality of the parent–child relationship and the mobilization of parents.-The time factor.-Parents' pathologies and the consequences on their children.-Type of family and family relationship.A majority of parents disengage in the first three years of the placement and especially in the first year. It is therefore essential to carry out intensive work with the parents as soon as possible in order to maximise the possibilities of family reunification or, if necessary, to develop a realistic and adapted project for all parties.
Parents' drug addiction generates their absence from their child's life. The accumulation of problems among parents also increases their disengagement from their child's life. The work on parenting must include intensive support in solving the personal problems of the parents of children in care. It is therefore essential to work intensively with the parents at an early stage to maximise the possibilities of reunification on the parents' personal problems and the quality of the parent–child relationship.
Cadre de la recherche : Les familles d’accueil Banque-mixte accueillent des enfants en vue de les adopter. Les enfants placés dans ce type de ressource sont généralement âgés de zéro à deux ans et ...considérés à haut risque d’abandon, mais ils ne sont pas pour autant adoptables au moment du placement, et la plupart d’entre eux continuent d’avoir des contacts ponctuels avec leurs parents d’origine. Objectifs : La présente étude jette un éclairage sur les enjeux que pose la double appartenance familiale de l’enfant pour les parents d’accueil. Elle vise à mieux comprendre comment les parents d’accueil négocient cette double appartenance familiale pendant le placement de l’enfant et tout au long du processus menant à son adoption. Méthodologie : Pour répondre à ces objectifs, trente et un entretiens semi-dirigés ont été réalisés auprès de parents d’accueil Banque-mixte dans trois régions du Québec. Les parents ont été interrogés à deux reprises, une première fois dans l’année suivant le début du placement et une deuxième fois dix-huit mois plus tard. Résultats : Les résultats de l’étude s’articulent autour de quatre grands thèmes : 1) la perception des parents d’accueil vis-à-vis des parents d’origine; 2) les craintes et appréhensions vécues en lien avec la garde de l’enfant; 3) les enjeux d’appellation et de désignation parentales; 4) le rôle des intervenants sociaux dans les contacts entre les deux familles. Conclusions : L’appartenance familiale et les relations familiales des enfants placés en famille Banque-mixte reposent sur un équilibre dont la fragilité s’explique en partie par les intentions distinctes et parfois contradictoires des parents d’accueil et d’origine, mais aussi par d’autres facteurs tels que la vulnérabilité des parents d’origine, le profil des enfants placés et la variabilité des pratiques des intervenants sociaux. Contribution : Le placement en Banque-mixte demeure peu étudié au Québec. Cette étude permet de mieux saisir les différents enjeux sous-jacents à ce type de placement en termes de dynamiques et de relations familiales.
The focus of this study is on how Israeli adolescents in their last years of stay in foster care view their readiness for independent living in multiple areas, such as work, education and money ...management. The study tests a series of hypotheses regarding factors associated with readiness: Background of family of origin, placement history, Relationships with foster family, relationships with biological family while in care and current functioning.
A sample of 66 (32 females) adolescents in foster care in Israel ages 16–18 were interviewed face to face. In addition, their social workers completed a structured questionnaire to report on the adolescents' background and current functioning.
Overall, adolescents presented a positive view of their readiness in most areas. They felt less ready mainly in their abilities to secure financial resources for school and housing. Background variables and workers' reports did not predict readiness. Youth's perceptions of relationships with foster family, social support, educational achievements and the avoidance of substance abuse were correlated positively with perceived readiness.
The discussion examines the potential positive and negative implications of an optimistic view of readiness and presents implications for practice. Policy implications are suggested for preparing youth while in care and after they leave care.
This study used an ethological approach to explore the baby-caregiver dyadic exchanges (Attempted interactions, Triggers, Interactions) of nineteen infants during their first weeks in Residential ...Care (RC), or a Foster Family (FF) or an Infant-Mother Centre (IMC). Direct observations were conducted at feeding time. Observed behaviours were: baby glances/gazes, dyadic exchanges and dyadic exchanges' initiator, in addition to the baby's behavioural repertoire. Descriptive analyses showed that attempted interactions were emitted more often than triggers, which themselves were more frequent than interactions. Interactions took place more often during the post-feeding phase. Vocalizations were linked to the infant's capacities to initiate interactions, and mouth movements were linked to sustained gazing. Non-parametric analyses showed that, in RC, fewer dyadic exchanges happened and babies showed the least visual attention. By contrast, in IMC, sustained gazes and baby-mother interactions were the highest. In FF, the results fell between those obtained in RC and IMC.
This study contributes to current research on the behavior problems of children in foster care by analyzing a more comprehensive set of concurrent child history and contextual predictors. Kinship ...home status and sibling status (i.e., whether the sibling is a biological sibling to the foster child) were evaluated as moderators of significant associations. Data were collected at the baseline of a foster parent training intervention program prior to any intervention services using parent phone interviews (N=310, 51.6% male, M age=7.57years). Two linear hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate each set of predictors' association with behavior problems as well as each individual predictor's contribution. Results indicated that as a set, the contextual variables predicted a significant and unique amount of variability in the child's internalizing and externalizing behavior scores, whereas the child history variables did not. Specifically, the child's placement in a non-kinship home, being in a non-ethnically matched child-parent pair, higher parent stress scores, a greater number of prior group home placements, and higher internalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher child externalizing scores. Higher parent stress scores, higher focal sibling externalizing behavior scores, and higher externalizing behavior scores for the child predicted higher internalizing scores for the child. The association between focal sibling externalizing behavior scores and child internalizing scores was moderated by kinship home status, such that there was a stronger association between the focal sibling's externalizing score and the child's internalizing score if the child was in a kinship compared to a non-kinship home. Implications for intervention services are discussed, particularly the importance of assessing the child's foster home environment when addressing the child's behavior problems.
•Children in foster care display elevated levels of behavior problems.•Child history and contextual factors were examined as predictors of these problems.•Current context explained a significant amount of variance in behavior problems.•Child history factors did not explain a significant amount of variance.•Kinship care status moderated the effect of sibling behavior on child behavior.
Although foster families serve a critical societal role, little is known about foster family communication dynamics. The present study investigated the relationship of current foster parents' ...(n = 158) communication with his/her foster child on foster parents' perceptions of relational and child well-being. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that foster parent-child communication is associated with foster parents' perceptions of shared family identity, relational closeness, and child resiliency. These findings suggest the importance of domain-specific family communication orientations and underscore the critical role of open communication in foster families.
This study used an ethological approach to explore the behavioural adaptation of nineteen infants during their first six weeks in Residential Care (RC), or a Foster Family (FF) or an Infant-Mother ...Centre (IMC). Direct observations were conducted once a week at bath time. Observed behaviours were: sleep-wake states, visual exploration, motor activity, facial and vocal expressions. Non-parametric analyses showed that, in RC, the duration of bathing was the shortest and babies expressed more crying and withdrawal and less locomotor abilities and vocalizations. By contrast, in IMC, the bathing time was the longest and babies spent the least time in crying and showed the most locomotor abilities and vocalizations. The placement in FF showed intermediate results. This study showed sleep-wake states and behaviours that found variable expression depending on the placement environment and therefore could be considered as markers of the baby's adaptation to his placement milieu in follow-up quantitative studies.
The study investigated the role of the postnatal caregiving environment in the socio-emotional development of children under the age of 16 who had been exposed to alcohol in utero and placed in ...foster family care (
n
=
38). Quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were utilized. Based on psychological examinations, most of the children (76%) were reported to have at least one developmental problem; concentration, attention and language/speech problems being the most typical. The critical issues affecting children's development were 1) the range of somatic illnesses and disabilities that had impaired their functional capacity, 2) children's age at the time of the first placement and of entry into long-term foster family care, and 3) the number of traumatic experiences. Placement outside a biological family at an early age decreased, and traumatic experiences, illnesses and disabilities increased socio-emotional problems (including neuropsychological problems). Undiagnosed children had more behavioural problems measured by the Child Behaviour Checklist than children with foetal alcohol syndrome, but in general the differences between the diagnostic categories were small. Damage to the central nervous system by prenatal alcohol exposure together with lack of constructive early interaction seems to launch a process which may make it difficult for the child to form a coherent picture of him-/herself and to control his/her feelings and behaviour.
Research Framework : Preschool children are less likely to be reunified to their biological parents after being in foster care and generally have more stable foster placement. However, little is ...known about the factors associated with stable placement in preschool children and, in particular, the role of parent-child contact on placement trajectories of these children. Objectives : This study examines the relation between parent-child contacts after foster placement and three aspects related to foster placement stability : the prospect of parent-child reunification, the occurrence of family reunification failure, and the number of placement changes experienced by the child. Methodology : Fifty-four biological parents and 43 foster parents responsible for young children aged between 12 and 43 months were met. Socio-demographic and contact arrangements information were collected during individual interviews and biological parents’ commitment to their child placed in a foster home was measured. Results : Results show that parent-child contact is positively and significantly or marginally associated with prognosis for family reunification, even after controlling for potentially confounding ecological characteristics. Beyond contact arrangements, biological parental commitment to their child is associated with the prospect of family reunification. Conclusions : Thus, results of this study confirm the role of parental commitment following foster care and support the development of interventions that promote this component of parenthood. Contribution : This study sheds light on the distinct roles of parental commitment and parent-child contact on the prospect of family reunification and supports future research in this area.
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