(in English) Thesis deals with biological children of parents, who have other kids in foster care. These kids are often neglected. In the theoretical part are described and defined terms such as a substitute foster family and its forms, family, siblings. It focuses also on selected foreing researches and contemporary Czech works on this topic. Practical part contains analyzes of interviews with respondents. The main aim was to find out what biological children of their parents in general think of foster care. How they perceive the situation in their own family and how it affects them.

(in English): The diploma thesis examines the system of accompanying of foster families as a profession, which is done by the so called Key workers. The first part of the thesis focuses on foster care, its typology and the overview of foster care benefits. The accompanying system is presented in detail, including a legislative overview and the content of the foster care agreement. The theoretical part specifies the roles, prerequisites and working conditions of the Key workers and discusses the limits of this profession. The aim of the thesis is to find out how these workers evaluate the current system of accompaniment in selected organizations which are authorized to conclude foster care agreements in Prague and Central Bohemia. The empirical part includes research, analysis, and evaluation. Methodology of the research is qualitative and the data is collected by semi-structured interviews.

This diploma thesis deals with the analysis of parental competence of mothers with psychiatric disorder, with an emphasis on the difficulties such diagnosis can have on the family's functionality. The most severe, in practice, seems to be the necessity to place the children in institutions, away from their families, in cases where no other family member can take care of these children during the mother's absence as a result of the attack. Due to the nature of the disorder, periodicity can be expected, which significantly disturbs the child's development and relationships within the family. The real impact was observed in the empirical part via a case study focusing on six families that have a mother diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. The needs of these families were mapped through interviews and were later compared to the current offer of non-profit organizations. The results were used to find out, which services are offered and in which areas do these families require support. Due to the nature of this problem and the necessity for systematic solution when it comes down to the provided psychiatric care, I reached out to the current Minister of Health, who commented on the present situation. The presumption that the biggest impact is observed in families with single mothers proved to be right,...

Substitute family care is a frequently mentioned topic in the Czech Republic, especially in connection with the high number of children placed in institutional facilities. Foster care, as a one of the forms of substitute family care, was registered within the amendment to the Act on Social and Legal Protection of Children No. 359/1999 Coll. It was in January 2013 and a new concept of support and definition of foster parents' rights and obligations was defined. One of these obligations is to conclude a foster care agreement either with the municipal authority of the municipality with extended powers or with a non-governmental non-profit organization which is entrusted with the exercise of social and legal protection of children and with foster care agreements. This diploma thesis focuses on the personnel activities of non-governmental non-profit organizations that accompany foster families and on the key accompanying workers themselves as well. The theoretical part defines an area of social and legal protection of children, the system of substitute family care, the activities of non-governmental non-profit organizations and personnel processes in the organization. In the qualitative research, I map out an area of human resources management in the accompanying organizations in the form of...

The diploma thesis focuses on the topic of leaving alternative care and it is divided into two parts. In the first theoretical part I describe the system of alternative care in the Czech Republic, its division and definition. I also deal with the termination of care, preparation for independence and the last are forms of assistance and aftercare services. In the practical part, the subject of my interest will be the readiness of young people after the end of alternative care. Through a semi-structured interview, I will find out how they are doing in various areas that are important for independence. In the final part, I summarize the results of the research, which will be provided with commentary. Keywords Substitute care, family, foster care, institutional education, preparation for independent living, after-care services

Syftet med denna studie har varit att utifrån socialsekreterares upplevelser och erfarenheter få en fördjupad förståelse för vad som påverkar delaktighet för barn som ska placeras i eller redan är placerade i familjehem. Studien har genomförts utifrån sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialsekreterare i Kalmar län. Analysen har gjorts utifrån ett maktperspektiv samt begreppen being och becoming. Resultatet av vår studie visar att barnens delaktighet i mångt och mycket ligger i socialsekreterarnas händer. Socialsekreterarna kan genom sin makt påverka i vilken utsträckning barnen kan vara delaktiga. Det handlar också om deras sätt att se på barnen som being eller becoming; som kompetenta aktörer eller barn i behov av skydd. / The aim of this study has been to get an in-depth understanding of what affects children's participation for those about to be placed in, or already placed in care, from social workers point of view and experiences. The study has been made through six semi-structured interviews with social workers in Kalmar county. The analysis has been made from a power perspective and by using the concepts of being and becoming. Our result show that children's participation in many ways lays in the hands of the social workers. They can trough their authority influence in which extend the children can be participants. It also lays within the social workers way of seeing the children as being or becomings; as qualified actors or children in need of protection.

Foster care is currently a topic that arouses certain controversy in society, which often stems from ignorance of this type of alternative family care. In the diploma thesis, with the help of the analysis, the domestic system of substitute family care was comprehensively described with a focus on foster care. This system was subsequently compared with foreign systems. The work also deals with the identification of the main motivational factors that are essential for the performance of foster care. To find out important information about the motivational factors of foster care, the method of a questionnaire survey was used, which was conducted with foster parents and also with persons without experience with foster care. The questionnaire survey with foster parents showed that the main motivating factor for foster parents is selfless help for children in institutional care. The questionnaire survey with people without experience with foster care showed that their motivation for foster care would be stimulated by helping children in institutional care and efforts to provide family facilities for such children. Several responses from the questionnaire surveys were also compared. From this comparison came significant differences in motivational factors between foster parents and people without...

L’objectif de cette recherche est de comprendre comment s’exerce la parentalité d’accueil dans le contexte des visites supervisées. À partir du point de vue des familles d’accueil, cette étude vise à décrire leur compréhension des visites supervisées; leur implication dans la planification de celles-ci; l’accompagnement qu’elles offrent à l’enfant et la communication qu’elles ont avec les différents acteurs impliqués dans les visites supervisées. Pour ce faire, des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été réalisées avec quatorze parents d’accueil affiliés au programme jeunesse du Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. Les entrevues ont été soumises à une démarche d’analyse de contenu thématique. Le modèle théorique et conceptuel écosystémique de la parentalité a été utilisé pour décrire les différentes dimensions de la parentalité d’accueil dans le contexte des visites supervisées. Les résultats de cette recherche démontrent que les familles d’accueil ont une bonne compréhension des visites supervisées en termes des objectifs visés et des motifs de leur mise en place. Pour ce qui est de la planification des visites supervisées, l’implication des familles d’accueil est variable. Certaines rapportent être impliquées dans les prises de décisions tandis que d’autres témoignent se faire imposer des choix par l’intervenant. En ce qui concerne l’accompagnement offert aux enfants, des besoins de formation et/ou de coaching ont été identifiés par bon nombre de familles d’accueil. Il ressort également de cette étude que les familles d’accueil ont majoritairement des échanges positifs avec l’intervenant. Quant à la communication avec les parents d’origine, une panoplie d’expériences autant positive que négative a été rapportée par les familles d’accueil. L’analyse du discours des participants a mis en lumière des défis associés à l’exercice de la parentalité d’accueil dans le contexte des visites supervisées. Elle a également soulevé des enjeux reliés à la reconnaissance des familles d’accueil comme partenaire dans la prestation de services à l’enfant. En terminant, cette recherche offre des pistes de réflexion intéressantes concernant la parentalité d’accueil et les pratiques en matière de visites supervisées. / The main objective of this research is to understand how foster parenting is exercised in the context of supervised visitation. From the foster families' point of view, this study aims to describe their understanding of supervised visits; their involvement in their planning; the support they provide to the child; the communication they have with various parties involved in supervised visits. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen foster parents affiliated with the youth program division from the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. The interviews were subject to a continuous thematization. The theoretical and conceptual ecosystemic model of parenting was used to describe the various dimensions of foster parenting. The results of this research show that foster families have a good understanding of supervised visits in terms of their objectives and the reasons for their implementation. The foster families’ involvement in the planning of supervised visits varies. Some are involved in decision-making. While others have choices imposed on them by caseworkers. As for the accompaniment of children, a need for training and/or coaching was identified by a good number of foster families. This study also shows that the majority of foster families have positive exchanges with caseworkers. As for communication with the child’s biological parents, a variety of experiences were reported by the foster families. The participants' discourse analysis highlighted the challenges of foster parenting in the context of supervised visits. It also raised issues related to the recognition of foster families as partners in the delivery of services to children. In conclusion, this research offers interesting avenues for reflection regarding foster parenting and practices for supervised visits.

När ett barn inte kan bo kvar hos sina biologiska föräldrar måste samhället ingripa för att trygga barnet, ansvaret vilar då på socialtjänsten. En vanlig åtgärd är att barnet blir placerat i ett familjehem, dock är det fortsatt socialtjänsten som ansvarar för att barnets behov blir tillgodosedda under placeringen. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka familjehemsföräldrars upplevelse av socialtjänstens stöd och kontakt i relation till barnets bästa. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som metod och materialet har transkribets, kodats, samt tematiserats i enlighet med Interpretativ fenomenologisk analys. Studien utgår ifrån utvecklingsekologin och anknytningsteorin vid tolkningen av materialet. Resultatet visar att familjehemmen upplever att socialtjänstens stöd brister när det gäller kontakten och kontinuiteten i stödet. Det framgår även att organisatoriska svårigheter som exempelvis handläggarbyten är en bidragande faktor till att stödet upplevs som bristande. Det resultat som var mest framträdande är att familjehemmen önskar ett större fokus på matchning och kemi från socialtjänstens håll för att de ska få de bästa förutsättningarna för en lyckad placering. Information och möjligheten att träffa barnet innan placeringen är två faktorer som identifieras som essentiella för att kunna förbereda sig inför en placering. Därför betonas vikten av en välgrundad placering för att minska risken att barnet behöver omplaceras på grund av att familjehemmet inte har kapaciteten att ta hand om barnet efter barnets behov. Att de biologiska föräldrarnas rätt ofta går före barnets rätt är även ett genomgripande problem inom arbetet med familjehemsplaceringar placerade barn, enligt deltagarna. Familjehemsföräldrarna upplever därför att det behöver ske ett förbättringsarbete inom socialtjänsten för att alltid tillgodose familjehemmen med stöd i from av kontinuerlig kontakt och information om barnets behov samt tillgodose barnets bästa genom att lyssna på barnet vid beslut och se till barnets bästa i främsta rum.

When a child for some reason can’t live with their parents it is up to the welfare system to provide a home and care for that child. In Sweden long-term foster care placements are the most common state interventions for those children. Recent studies have shown that as much as one out of four foster care placements break down in the child’s adolescent years. To experience one or a series of tough separations from important elders has shown to have negative effects on the development of the child. This does not align with the welfare systems’  responsibility to always act in favor of the child. Always acting in favor of the Child is at the core of the Convention on the rights of the Child. In the following qualitative content analysis five state documents (three from the National Board of Health and Welfare, one from The Ombudsman for Children and one governmental investigation document) have been examined. The aim of the analysis is to examine how the documents portray placement breakdowns in foster care and how much they focus on the child rights perspective in their portrayals. Previous research and two theories regarding children are used as the theoretical framework to help analyze the essay results. The two theories are Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory of child development and the theory of childhood sociology with emphasis on children as actors. This essay comes to the conclusion that the state documents are well informed of the complex nature of placement breakdowns and the dissonance between the problem of breakdowns and the child’s right perspective. The documents also contain a number of interventions that in theory could reduce the number of breakdowns. What is revealed is that the process of acknowledging the problem, finding a solution and implementing it in the social care practice takes a lot of time and is a slow process. The discussion includes that further research of what can be done on a municipal level would be of use.