Many homeless youth come from foster homes, group homes, and other forms of substitute care. For young people in the child welfare system, elopement represents a major problem as it places them at risk for a number of troubling outcomes. Three studies were undertaken examining elopement among young people living in substitute care in Canada and the United States. The first study explored strengths and needs in a sample of 5,011 children and youth housed in a variety of substitute care settings including foster homes, group homes, residential treatment centres, emergency shelters, and juvenile justice facilities. Results indicated that needs, but not strengths, predicted running among children, while both needs and strengths predicted running among adolescents. Problems with school attendance, substance abuse, and delinquency also predicted running among both children and adolescents, with the exception of young children, for whom substance abuse was not a significant predictor. The second study explored the relationship between trauma, strengths, and elopement in a sample of 2,296 adolescents living in substitute care. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, school violence, and traumatic grief/separation were found to predict elopement. In addition, family violence and community violence predicted running among younger but not older adolescents. Educational strengths predicted a lower risk of running away for all adolescents, while well-being and relationship permanence predicted a lower risk of running among younger and older adolescents, respectively. The impact of strengths on the relationship between trauma and elopement was evaluated, with results suggesting that elopement was not predicted by an interaction between strengths and trauma. The third study was qualitative in nature and explored the perspectives of youth who had run away from substitute care at least once in their lifetime. Youth provided information about their experiences as well as suggestions designed to reduce the prevalence of running away among youth in substitute care. Findings for all three studies were discussed in relation to the literature with implications for research and prevention.

Every year, thousands of children end in foster care. It is estimated that approximately 24,000 foster youths age-out of the system each year. The improvement of outcomes of foster youths when they age-out of the system has been a concern among government agencies, policy makers, and advocates. Although research in the foster care area has studied the outcomes of foster youths when they age-out of the system, the role of the foster parents in improving these outcomes, especially in the area of career development, has not received the same attention. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of foster parents of youths with and without disabilities about their foster youth's career self-efficacy beliefs. A total of 157 foster parents registered in the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association (IFAPA) and Nebraska Foster and Adoptive Parent Association (NFAPA) email databases responded to an online survey. The survey included a demographic questionnaire which presented questions about the extent of their role as foster parents and the Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form (CDMSE-SF) that measured the foster parents' perception of the career self-efficacy of their foster youth. After conducting a MANOVA and ANOVA analyses, a highly perceived self-efficacy belief was found among the foster parents in general. However, when the group of foster parents who reported having a youth with disability and those who do not have a youth with disability were compared, the perceived career self-efficacy beliefs were higher among the foster parents of youths without disabilities. Additionally, the foster parents identified services and/or training they understand are important for them and the foster youth such as more orientation about disabilities, the parent's role in Individual Educational Plan (IPE) meetings, and the opportunity for the foster youth of having employment experience before they leave the foster care system. Considering the important role of the family in the career development of youths and the development of expectations, these findings are important not only to the rehabilitation counseling professionals, but to many individuals in the helping professions, educators, researchers, and policy makers.

Apart from the significant amount of research based in the perspective of social service workers, parents’ viewpoints of their experiences with children in long-term foster care is notably underrepresented within social science literature. To address this lack in coverage this paper discusses parents’ experiences of compulsory care (LVU) using content analysis drawing on selected comment sections from two internet-based discussion forums, Flashback and Familjeliv. Our main objective was to analyse parents’ descriptions of their relations with the social services and changes in the perceptions of the role of parenting after the emergency removal. Applying the theoretical framework of social trust we sought to achieve a deeper understanding for the parents’ situation. The social trust theory aims at analysing individuals’ trust for the state and state institutions, especially in relation to different social groups. The study shows that the high levels of trust between citizen and authorities, one of the Swedish society’s central trademarks, was not reflected in the material collected concerning parents’ experiences of the so-called social safety net. In line with previous research, parents’ narratives demonstrated a significant distrust for the social services and their descriptions indicated a sense of neglect. Parents’ comments also suggested a lack of understanding for the judgements made by social service workers and the resulting compulsory care.

The diploma thesis deals with the topic of foster families quality support.The aim of the diploma thesis is to describe how foster parents perceive the support of the accompanying organization and whether the preparation they have gone through in the beginnings prepared them to take the child into care.The research was based on using the technique of semi-structured interviews. The obtained data have been divided into the following categories - preparatory course, support of the accompanying organization and state support.At the end of the diploma thesis, the main research questions are answered, and recommendations for subsequent practice are also give Key words: Accompanying worker, Foster care, Foster parent, Support

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Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap kring hur diskursen kring barns bästa definieras av professionella i förvaltningsrätten där det fattas beslut om att barn ska placeras i familjehem enligt LVU 2 § (1990:52). Det empiriska materialet utgick ifrån 15 stycken förvaltningsrättsliga domar där socialnämndens vårdplan angavs vara beredande av vård utanför föräldrahemmet. Barnen i domarna var mellan noll till sex år och det fanns ingen förekomst av syskonpar i materialet. Studien är kvalitativ och Norman Faircloughs diskursanalys används både teori och metod tillsammans med barndomssociologi som ytterligare en teori. Resultatet i studien visar att diskursen kring små barns bästa hos de professionella till största del handlar om barnets grundläggande behov. De ofta ses som en homogen grupp med behov som inte skiljer sig från varandra. Vidare visar studien att små barn ofta blir objekt i rättsprocessen medans föräldrarna blir subjekt utifrån deras tillkortakommanden. / The aim of the study is to contribute with knowledge about how the discourse about the term children's best interest is defined in administrative court when a decision is made that the child should be placed in foster care according to LVU 2 § (1990:52). The empirical material is made of 15 orders from the administrative court where the social welfare boards care plan is for the child to be placed out of the family home. The children in the study is between the ages of zero to six and there were no cases in which there were siblings involved. The study is qualitative and uses Norman Fairclough's discourse analysis both as a theory and method and is used together with childhood sociology as a additional theory. The results of the study indicates that the discourse about small children's best interest is mostly about the child's basic care needs. They are often seen as a homogeneous group whose needs did not differ from one another. Further the study's results shows that small children often become objectified in the legal process and that the parents failings in many cases are seen as primary and the child perspective is seen as secondary.

Tempte. A. ”Vi vill ge det bästa av två världar” En kvalitativ studie av socionomers erfarenhet av vårdnadsöverflyttning. Masteruppsats i Socialt Arbete 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö Universitet: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, institutionen för socialt arbete, 2022.  Hur barns bästa bör mötas av samhället när föräldrar brister har diskuteras genom tider och i alla samhällen. Uppfattningar om hur barns behov bäst möts är motstridiga. Val mellan återförening till biologföräldrar och stabilitet i familjehem innebär svåra och komplexa bedömningar. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka processen när vårdnad för barn övergår från biologföräldrar till familjehemsföräldrar. En överflyttning av vårdnad innebär skiften. Juridiskt, vårdideologiskt och socialt förändras barnets förhållanden. Uppsatsens frågeställningar fokuserar på hur socialtjänsten uppfattar lagstiftarens intentioner och sitt handlingsutrymme för att bedöma och säkerställa barns bästa i dessa ärenden. Utifrån intervjuer med socionomer tas steg i processen fram och blir synliga. Studiens analys vilar på teorier om kunskap, handlingsutrymme och barndom. Det som blir synligt är att lagstiftarens intentioner uppfattas som goda, att trygga barnet. Vägen dit innebär dock avvägningar som kan motarbeta syftet. Handlingsutrymmet påverkas av att vårdnadsöverflyttning i sig inte är tillräcklig för att säkra barns bästa. Det sociala arbetet är inramat av juridiska och vårdideologiska påbud som gör att utrymmet att handla blir till en balansakt. Synen på vilken kunskap som anses viktig skiljer sig mellan socialtjänst och rättsväsende. Mötet i rättssalen påverkas av den juridiska synen på barns bästa. Vad som är bäst för barn är värdeladdat, när värderingarna krockar inbördes skapas behov av rangordning. / Tempte. A.” We Want to Give the Best of Both Worlds” A Qualitative Study of Social Workers´ Experiences in Custody Transfer. Master’s degree in social work 15 credits. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department for Social Work, 2022.   In which way the best interest of a child should be met by the community when the ability of parents fail has been discussed throughout the times and in all communities. Perception of the best interest of children is conflicting. The choice between reunification with birthparents and stability in foster care means difficult and complex assessments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of moving custody from birth parents to foster parents. Moving custody contains multiple shifts. Legal aspects, caring ideology and social aspects change the child’s circumstances. The questions in this paper focus on how the social services perceives the intentions of the lawmakers and their own discretion to assess and ensure the best interest of the child in these matters. Based on interviews with social workers steps in the process are forged and visualized. The study´s analysis rests on theories of knowledge, discretion and childhood. What becomes visible is that the intentions of the law maker are perceived as good, to increase the safety of the child. The path to get there, however, involves choices that work against the purpose. The discretion is affected by the fact that moving custody in itself is insufficient to ensure the best for the child. The social work is framed by legal and care ideological edicts that turn the discretion into a balancing act. The view of what knowledge is considered important differs between the social services and the judiciary. The courtroom meeting is influenced by the legal view of children´s best interest. What is best for children is loaded with value, when these values collied, the need to arrange by rank occurs.

BLÁHOVÁ, J. The Most Frequent Causes of Failure of Foster Care in the Czech Republic 15 Years ago and Today. Prague: Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague, 2012, 114 pp. Diploma Thesis. The aim of my diploma thesis was to map the main cause which take part in premature end of foster care in our country. I have recorded this problematic since the year 1996 up to now. I have focused on definition and forms of foster care. Further on the process of its arrangement and the starting conditions which have an influence on foster care. I have introduced and compared the results of two big Czech studies which were devoted in this topic and were published in the interval of 15 years. Besides the failure cause of foster care on the foster parents side and children entrusted into a foster care and the system of alternative family care I have also focused on factors which contributes to its success on the other hand. In the practical part I have tried to get more deeply into the cause of foster care failure from the view of social workers from OSPOD. I was interested in what and how influences the foster care failure, how the system components of alternative family care and which changes social workers see as needed in the support of foster care success. It has been shown that the causes of its...

My thesis, "The Transformation of the Media-Image for Children's Systems of Care" analyzes the system of care for vulnerable children in the Czech Republic, specifically how Act. No 359/1999 Coll. transforms the the socio-legal protection of children. The amendment aims to reform services inthe area of preventive action: the legislation prioritizes the family as the best environment for the child. Under this amendment, a child is placed in institutional care only as a last resort. Additionally, the amendment also professionalizes and standardizes the social-legal protection of children. Transforming a bureaucratic system is always a political process in which different actors are involved, who aim to implement new policies promoting their best interests. The aim of this paper is to describe the image of Czech households in the media depicted by policy actors, and how these images consequently transformed the system of care for vulnerable children. For this purpose, content analysis of media communication, ranging from print media, television networks, radio stations, and websites, and the other complementary methods were applied. The theoretical anchors are grounded in foundational concepts of public policy (public policy network theory) and media sciences (agenda setting theory of media...

The diploma thesis "Adolescent in Foster Care" deals with an adolescent growing up in foster care, with regard to the development of one's identity. The theoretical part includes preview on adolescent, foster care, identity and also the issues of deprivation. The research part is focused on opinion and attitudes of adolescents to issues like children's biological family, foster family and identity, as well as attitudes of foster parents to identical topics. Keywords Adolescent, foster care, deprivation, identity,