FOSTER CARE IN PUBLIC AND IN PRIVATE LAW Abstract The diploma paper deals with the present legal regulations of foster care in private law as well as in public law. The institute of foster care is placed on the frontier of public and private law and the purpose of my diploma paper is to assess, after a complete analysis, which of these two law branches is the foster care closer to. The diploma paper is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the institute of foster care in general. This chapter has to introduce the reader into the problems and to acquaint him with the basic way-outs. The second chapter defines the notion of foster care and its purpose. Also the historical way-outs are described there. We can see the progression of this institute, as we understand it these days, since 19th century. The essential modification came during the period of communism and the reinsertion of the institute of foster care came at the end of 90's in 20th century. The third chapter is about the present legal regulations of foster care in the legal order of Czech Republic. The sources of legal regulations of foster care, including international sources that govern family law, are characterized there. There are also mentioned single presumptions of the inception of foster care, requests on the person...

<p>Syftet med vår studie var att få en inblick i hur familjehemsföräldrar ser på sitt uppdrag utifrån följande frågeställningar:</p><ul><li>Vilka motiv och förväntningar finns till att vilja bli familjehem?</li><li>Hur har uppdraget som familjehem påverkat relationerna i familjen?</li><li>Har familjehemmen avlastning eller behov av det?</li><li>Vilken syn har familjehemmen på handledning?</li><li>Hur resonerar familjehemmen kring den ekonomiska ersättningen?</li></ul><p>Studien genomfördes med utgångspunkt i kvalitativa intervjuer, där vi tillsammans intervjuade 9 olika familjehem knutna till Kristianstads kommun. I 7 av intervjuerna medverkade båda familjehemsföräldrarna, i 2 intervjuer medverkade den ena familjehemsföräldern; sammanlagt 16 respondenter.</p><p>Intervjuerna transkriberades, analyserades och presenterades sedan på två olika sätt. Utifrån meningskategorisering presenterades resultatet dels i idealtyper samt tematiskt utifrån citat.</p><p>Familjehemsföräldrarna i vår studie har en samsyn som par i hur de ser på sitt uppdrag, och att de arbetar väl tillsammans. I vår studie fann vi 5 olika idealtyper, som illustrerar hur de ser på olika frågor. Många av familjehemmen ansåg att uppdraget som familjehem hade blivit ett sätt att leva, en livsstil. Det fanns även familjehem som såg uppdraget som en profession, där de placerade barnen samtidigt var en del i familjen. Familjehemmen i vår studie hade åtagit sig uppdraget som familjehem med anledning av personlig erfarenhet och kontakt med andra familjehem i sin närhet. Familjehemmen var överens om att behovet av handledning var störst i början av ett uppdrag. Synen på avlastning skilde sig åt mellan familjehemmen. Familjehemmen såg det som en självklarhet att få ekonomisk ersättning för sitt uppdrag.</p> / <p>The purpose of our study was to investigate how foster-parents regard their task based on the following:</p><ul><li>Which motives and expectations do foster-parents have to become a foster-home?</li><li>How does the task as foster-home influence the relations of the family?</li><li>Do the foster-homes have any need of alleviance from their task? </li><li>Do the foster-homes have any need of guidance in their task?</li><li>How do foster-parents think regarding the financial part of their task?</li></ul><p>The study was carried out from the basis of qualitative interviews, in which we together interviewed 9 different foster-homes connected to the council of Kristianstad. In 7 of the interviews, both foster-parents participated, in 2 interviews one of the foster-parents participated; in total 16 responders. The interviews were transcribed, analysed and thereafter presented in two different ways. From coding categories, the result was presented both in idealtypes and thematically from quotes.</p><p>The foster-parents in our study appear to have a common view as couples in how they regard their task, and that they work well together. In our study we found 5 different idealtypes, who illustrate how they regard various issues. The foster-homes felt that their task had become a way of living, a life style. There were also foster-homes that viewed their task as a profession, where the placed children at the same time were a part of the family.</p><p>The foster-homes in our study had taken on the task as foster-home because of personal experiences and contact with other foster-homes in their vicinity. Regarding their view of guidance, the foster-parents agreed that they were in need of guidance mostly in the beginning of a task. The opinions are somewhat varied among foster-parents, regarding alliviance. The foster-parents think that the financial part of their task comes natural.</p>

Syftet med vår studie var att få en inblick i hur familjehemsföräldrar ser på sitt uppdrag utifrån följande frågeställningar: Vilka motiv och förväntningar finns till att vilja bli familjehem? Hur har uppdraget som familjehem påverkat relationerna i familjen? Har familjehemmen avlastning eller behov av det? Vilken syn har familjehemmen på handledning? Hur resonerar familjehemmen kring den ekonomiska ersättningen? Studien genomfördes med utgångspunkt i kvalitativa intervjuer, där vi tillsammans intervjuade 9 olika familjehem knutna till Kristianstads kommun. I 7 av intervjuerna medverkade båda familjehemsföräldrarna, i 2 intervjuer medverkade den ena familjehemsföräldern; sammanlagt 16 respondenter. Intervjuerna transkriberades, analyserades och presenterades sedan på två olika sätt. Utifrån meningskategorisering presenterades resultatet dels i idealtyper samt tematiskt utifrån citat. Familjehemsföräldrarna i vår studie har en samsyn som par i hur de ser på sitt uppdrag, och att de arbetar väl tillsammans. I vår studie fann vi 5 olika idealtyper, som illustrerar hur de ser på olika frågor. Många av familjehemmen ansåg att uppdraget som familjehem hade blivit ett sätt att leva, en livsstil. Det fanns även familjehem som såg uppdraget som en profession, där de placerade barnen samtidigt var en del i familjen. Familjehemmen i vår studie hade åtagit sig uppdraget som familjehem med anledning av personlig erfarenhet och kontakt med andra familjehem i sin närhet. Familjehemmen var överens om att behovet av handledning var störst i början av ett uppdrag. Synen på avlastning skilde sig åt mellan familjehemmen. Familjehemmen såg det som en självklarhet att få ekonomisk ersättning för sitt uppdrag. / The purpose of our study was to investigate how foster-parents regard their task based on the following: Which motives and expectations do foster-parents have to become a foster-home? How does the task as foster-home influence the relations of the family? Do the foster-homes have any need of alleviance from their task? Do the foster-homes have any need of guidance in their task? How do foster-parents think regarding the financial part of their task? The study was carried out from the basis of qualitative interviews, in which we together interviewed 9 different foster-homes connected to the council of Kristianstad. In 7 of the interviews, both foster-parents participated, in 2 interviews one of the foster-parents participated; in total 16 responders. The interviews were transcribed, analysed and thereafter presented in two different ways. From coding categories, the result was presented both in idealtypes and thematically from quotes. The foster-parents in our study appear to have a common view as couples in how they regard their task, and that they work well together. In our study we found 5 different idealtypes, who illustrate how they regard various issues. The foster-homes felt that their task had become a way of living, a life style. There were also foster-homes that viewed their task as a profession, where the placed children at the same time were a part of the family. The foster-homes in our study had taken on the task as foster-home because of personal experiences and contact with other foster-homes in their vicinity. Regarding their view of guidance, the foster-parents agreed that they were in need of guidance mostly in the beginning of a task. The opinions are somewhat varied among foster-parents, regarding alliviance. The foster-parents think that the financial part of their task comes natural.

The purpose of this study is to better understand, from a foster parent perspective, how the integration process of the foster child is carried out in the foster family. The purpose is to identify the challenges and success factors in the process. The study is based on a qualitative method. The data consist of interviews with six foster families. The study’s theoretical framework is mostly based on system theory and also on the theory of ambivalence. The results show that most of our families considered five factors to be important in order to facilitate the integration process. The foster family needs to bond with the foster child, let the foster child in into the family system, open up and be who they really are, respect each other and reserve time to be able to satisfy the needs of foster child. The results emphasize that the foster parents should treat the foster child in the same way as the biological child.  We have also been able to identify factors that may have an impact on integration, like the age of the foster child. Our results suggest that foster parents experience different varieties of ambivalence to both the foster child and the foster child's biological parents. Those children who have a poor relationship with their biological parents and are of relatively young age tend to be over-integrated in the foster family.

The child welfare system has a responsibility to provide healthy environments for children who are removed from the care of their biological families. An important indicator of success in this endeavor is variations in child functioning following admission into foster care. Maltreated children are already at risk for difficulty adjusting to new environments and creating new relationships. This dissertation sought to explore the effect of change during foster care on child functioning. The effects of various types of change on children who were provided with treatment foster care services were evaluated using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS®) as a measure of child functioning. Results indicated that placement change and foster sibling presence negatively impacted child functioning, but that caseworker contact, foster sibling removal, and caseworker change positively impacted child functioning. Policy and practice implications emphasize the positive impact of single-child foster care placements, reduced volatility within foster child environments and relationships, and increased caseworker contacts. Future research should examine factors that mediate the relationship between systemic volatility within the foster care system and child functioning. / text

The purpose of this study has been to examine the construction of identities that are taking place when Swedish children and teenagers are, according to their local social services, in need of a family home. We have collected and analyzed data in the form of advertisement that is publicly available from the Swedish website Familjehemsbanken.se. It is a kind of marketplace that specializes as a go-between for the local social services in different Swedish municipalities and the presumptive local family homes. The descriptions of the children were looked at through a social constructionism lens where we identified patterns and different themes to which we assigned our own meanings or interpretations, based on the analyzed data and previous research and theories. What we found were broadly categorized into three themes; descriptions that were aiming to sell the kids to prospective buyers (family homes), descriptions that highlighted certain issues or problems that the child needed support with or descriptions that we considered neutral or ambivalent. As we conclude in the study, the descriptions in the last category could also be interpreted as either good or bad, depending on the reader and their own values and life experience. Our results show that even though child auctions (in essence: a form of economic slavery) were abolished in Sweden in 1918, today’s Swedish society are still dealing with socially vulnerable children as they – in practice – are still commodities on a marketplace. The methods and language may have changed, but the end result is still strikingly similar to what happened over a hundred years ago. One of the biggest challenges the authors faced was that it doesn’t exist any previous Swedish research on the subject at hand. We would argue, however, that the marketization of socially vulnerable children is an important issue that should be more deeply and thoroughly researched by further studies on the subject.

Familjehemsvård är den vanligaste placeringsformen i Sverige för barn som inte kan bo med sin familj. När sammanbrott sker berörs de närmast involverade. Syftet var att genom en allmän litteraturöversikt undersöka familjehemsföräldrars perspektiv på sammanbrott i familjehemsvård. 10 vetenskapliga artiklar låg till grund för resultatet som analyserades med hjälp av sorg- och kristeori samt salutogenetiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visade att sammanbrott väcker olika känslor som sorg, förlust, lättnad och ångest. Familjehemsföräldrar kände sig misslyckade och upplevde sig ha svikit barnet. Dessa känslor kunde även leda till en identitetskris hos familjehemsföräldrarna. Vidare uppmärksammades att relationen till, och kommunikationen med, socialtjänsten påverkade upplevelsen av sammanbrott. Brister i samverkan med socialtjänsten kunde negativt påverka stödet till familjehemsföräldrarna. / In Sweden, family foster care is the most common form of placement for children who cannot live with their families. Disruptions in placements can occur and affect those most immediately involved. The purpose of this literature review was to explore foster parents’ perspectives on placement breakdown. The result was based on 10 scientific articles that were analyzed through bereavement theory and salutogenic perspective. Results show that placement disruption awakens emotions such as sorrow, loss, relief and anxiety. Foster parents’ experienced failure and felt that they had betrayed the child. These feelings could also lead to an identity crisis for the foster parents. Further observations indicated that the relationship to, and communication with, social services affected foster parents’ perceptions of disruption. The shortcomings in collaboration with social services could influence the support offered to foster parents in a negative way.

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Studiens syfte var att undersöka om och i så fall hur, socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme i familjehemsprocessen påverkar inkluderingen av de biologiska barnen i familjehemmen. Barns bästa är ett centralt begrepp i familjehemsvården, men det inkluderar inte de biologiska barnens bästa utan fokuserar på de placerade barnens bästa.  Genom en kvalitativ metod som metodval har vi med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfört nio intervjuer med barn-och familjehemssekreterare. Urvalsgruppen arbetar inom och på uppdrag av tre olika kommuner inom familjehemsvården. Tidigare forskning om de biologiska barnen i familjehem är ytterst begränsad. Forskning om familjehemsvården som utgår från ett barnperspektiv har fokuserat på de placerade barnen, inte de biologiska barnen i familjehemmen. Forskning om familjehem har främst haft ett vuxenperspektiv och utgått i från föräldrarnas upplevelser av uppdraget. De biologiska barnen i familjehem ses som en helhet med familjen och inte som subjektiva aktörer.  Socialsekreterarnas handlingsutrymme inom familjehemsprocessen bidrar till skillnader för de biologiska barnen i hur mycket och under vilka delar av familjehemprocessen de inkluderas.  Studiens resultat visar på att det finns behov av att göra de biologiska barnen mer inkluderade i familjehemsprocessen och lyssna på deras upplevelser av familjehemsvården. Det finns behov av mer forskning om och med de biologiska barnen i familjehem som utgår i från deras perspektiv. / This essay focuses on the lack of inclusion of biological children in the foster care process, based on the discretion of social workers. The study aims to investigate whether and how the discretion of social workers in the foster care process affects the inclusion of biological children. While the best interest of the child is a central concept in foster care, it does not encompass the best interest of biological children but rather focuses on the best interest of the placed children.  Title: "Part of a Whole". A qualitative study on how social workers include the biological children in various stage of the foster care process.  Using a qualitative approach, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with child and family welfare social workers. The sample group works within and on behalf of three different municipalities involved in foster care. Previous research on biological children in foster care is extremely limited. Research on foster care from a child's perspective has focused on placed children rather than biological children in foster care. Research on foster care has primarily taken an adult perspective and relied on parents' experiences of the assignment. Biological children in foster care are seen as part of the family as a whole and not as subjective actors.  The discretion of social workers in the foster care process contributes to differences for biological children in how much and during which parts of the foster care process they are included.  The results of the study indicate the need to include biological children more in the foster care process and to listen to their experiences of foster care. There is a need for more research about and involving biological children in foster care that is based on their perspective as children.