Skolfam is a school-improving intervention for children in foster care. This study aimed to explore the experiences of those who have been working in former Skolfam teams. A qualitative case study was done, and the data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Nine former team members from Skolfam were interviewed from seven different Swedish municipalities. Theories of implementation and collaboration were used as the theoretical framework, as well as the concept of street-level bureaucracy. The case analysis of the data showed patterns and themes connected to the implementation, application and closure of Skolfam. One of the findings regarded the difficulty of working with a manual, despite it being vital from an evidence-based perspective. In addition, the results showed that the teams had good collaboration. However, there were deficiencies in other levels of the organizations. The reasons for the closure and the consequences for the children in foster care differ as some municipalities nowadays have a new school intervention for these children, while others do not. The main conclusion of this study is that children in foster care need, and have the right to get, school improving interventions.

Research suggests that the relatively low rates of former foster youth enrolling in and graduating from a postsecondary institution may be related to lack of foster care system support. This study examined whether perceived support from the foster care system was related to the postsecondary enrollment and academic performance of former foster youth, and whether males and females differed in perceived support from the foster care system. Forty-five former foster youth aged 18-24 years who had transitioned from a southeastern state completed a measure of social support and reported whether they had attended a postsecondary institution and, if so, their cumulative grade point average (CGPA). Analysis showed no significant relationships between participants' perceptions of foster care system support and their postsecondary attendance or performance. Analysis also showed no difference between genders in perceived support from the foster care system based on gender. Two notable results of the study were that over half the sample reported they had attended or were attending a postsecondary institution, with over 90% of those planning to continue, and nearly 40% reported a college GPA of 3.0 or above, suggesting considerable success in postsecondary classes. A limitation of the study was its reliance on self-report data. Recommendations included repeating the study by surveying former foster youth in several states to obtain ample participants. A social change implication was that a number of former foster youth are overcoming the unique challenges they face that might hinder their postsecondary attendance and success.

Foster care workers are an important part of the social service system, as they are the first line of support for children without families or who have been subjected to tragic events leading to their need for foster care. Foster care workers often experience work-life boundary issues due to the emotional nature of their work. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between (a) emotional intelligence and absenteeism and (b) emotional intelligence and work-life balance with foster care workers. Data was collected from foster care workers in the state of South Carolina employed with the Department of Social Services (n=200). Participants completed the Emotional Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) and the Work Related Quality of Life Scale (WRQoL) via pen and paper and email receipts. Ordinary least squares regression was used, including methods for mediation testing; multivariate analysis of covariance was also carried out for robustness testing purposes. No significant relationship was found between emotional intelligence and absenteeism. There was a significant relationship between various elements of emotional intelligence and various elements of work-life balance, but the effect sizes were small (> 0.04). There were no significance effects based on the results for absenteeism. Overall, the results illuminate the role of emotional intelligence on the work and life balance of foster care workers. One recommendation for future research would be to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary absenteeism. The results of the study can be used by organizations that employ foster care workers to improve the work and life balance and the effects of absenteeism in this line of work.

Within the Brazilian strategy to reform out-of-home care services, efforts have been directed to the prioritization of foster care over congregate care. This study draws from the perspective that childhood is socially construed, therefore child protection systems are dependent of notions and ideals of childhood, especially concerning the child deprived of parental care. Interviews with ten professionals involved in the implementation and execution of foster care services in different cities were conducted for this study. Thematic analysis of interviews was triangulated with the contents of National Guidelines for out-of-home care services and legal provisions with the aim of investigating how ideas on children deprived of parental care and their best interests are translated into practice. Three research questions guided the study: (1) how participants perceive the out-of-home care reform and the provisions of rights in different care modalities, especially regarding how children placed in different types of out-of-home care are perceived, (2) how participants view children’s best interests and which practices are believed to secure them and (3) how practitioners’ views relate to the contents of the National Guidelines. Five themes emerged in the analysis: a scientific and legal defense of (1) foster care as the most up to date form of out-of-home care, the prioritization of (2) children’s needs for individualized parental care, that (3) practitioners’ strong discretion is conditioned by foster families’ choices, that (4) institutionalization and group are detrimental to children, and the invocation that (5) children must be onboard. The study concludes that a clearer conceptualization of the rights and bests interests of children deprived of parental is required to better inform the reform of child protection and its practices, where consideration to children’s participation could be extended over acceptance to decisions.

The diploma thesis captures the genesis of foster care in our territory from the beginning to 1989. Emphasis is placed on important historical milestones that have influenced the development of foster care. The aim of the work is based on the comparison of analyzed historical documents with the findings contained in secondary sources focused on the procedures of the foster care subjects of the time to find out how this care was provided in that period, and thus expand the current state of research. Keywords: History, orphanage, foundling, foster care, home law, family law

The study aims to examine foster parents’ experiences of foster care, focusing on the difficulties they may encounter and their experiences in the interactions and support from social services. Research shows that foster parents bear a significant responsibility for the lives and well-being of the children under their care. They often describe their parenting experiences as one characterized by powerlessness, and they perceive the support provided by social services as inadequate. Ensuring that foster parents receive the necessary support to provide stable and service care for the child is crucial for a successful placement. Considering this issue, the purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the assignment and how foster parents experience the contact with social services. A qualitative method has been used and eight foster parents were interviewed using semi structured interviews. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis and presented and analyzed using Foucault’s theory of pastoral power and previous research. The results indicate that foster parents face different types of difficulties, especially when it comes to the contact with social services and the biological network of the placed children. The contact and support received from social services appears to be crucial for succeeding as foster parents, but it occurs to often be insufficient and lacking. The result also indicates that most foster parents’ experience difficulties related to the lack of decision making as well as the interactions between the placed child and its biological parents. However, lack of support emerges as the most challenging aspect of foster care according to the foster parents in this study because it makes it even harder to manage and handle the other difficulties and dilemmas that comes with the assignment. Therefore, this study emphasizes the significance of effective and supportive social services to ensure successful experiences for foster parents.

The purpose of this study is to analyze experiences of moving to and living in a foster home. The empirical material consists of autobiographies written by children placed in family homes when they have become adults. This study analyzes how the emotional and behavioral aspects of the experiences are portrayed in the autobiographies. The analysis includes what influence the foster parents' treatment of the child has on the experience of the foster care placement. The collection of the empirical material for this qualitative study has been done using a content analysis. The collected material has been analyzed based on previous research and three theoretical perspectives, which are attachment theory, mentalization and systems theory. The results show that feelings when moving can be fear, worry and anxiety about having to move away from their biological parents or move away from their foster parents. When experiencing traumatic moves, feelings of despair and anger become prominent. Behaviors in the form of showing resistance through threats and running away are based on the fact that the child has been involuntarily separated from his/her biological parents or carries with him/her unmanageable emotions that being moved can mean. Abandonment is a prominent feeling of living in a family home, which is based on the fact that the child does not get the opportunity to decide how the contact with the biological parents should be designed. The feeling of abandonment can also be based on the child feeling unwanted by adults. A prominent behavior in the family home is the child's adaptation to the new family, which functions as a survival strategy. Children with difficult experiences bring with them difficult-to-manage emotions to the family home, which can cause them to become aggressive during the placement. The results also show a strong correlation between receiving emotional support from the foster parents and feeling a sense of belonging in the family. Having their feelings addressed strengthens the sense of family belonging, which correlates with positive experiences of family home placements.

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