The purpose of this study was to examine how some child welfare case workers say they go about to give children in foster homes the opportunity to be heard. The idea was also to examine how much weight is given to the children’s views and if the respondents believe that the childrens right to be heard has improved over the time they have been working with foster children and if so, how? The study was conducted by using qualitative research method and the analysis of the results was made using Shier’s model of childrens participation. The results have also been tied to previous research in the area. The conclusions of this study was that according to the respondents it’s important that they get to know the children well so that the children can have confidence enough to speak their minds. They feel it is important that the children are listened to and the childrens views also have some influence in decision-making. The respondents also believe that the opportunities for the children to express their opinions have strengthened in recent years.

Uppsatsens syfte är att genom familjehemsföräldrars berättelser få en ökad kunskap och fördjupad förståelse för hur eftervården tillämpas i praktiken gällande ungdomar i åldern 18 - 23 år som varit placerade i familjehem. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ forskningsansats använts och det empiriska materialet har framtagits genom kvalitativa intervjuer. Inom studien genomfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt åtta familjehemsföräldrar. Under intervjuerna var temaområden vägledande: familjehemsföräldrars bild av dagens "stöd och hjälp efter avslutad  placering”/ eftervård, familjehemsföräldrars upplevelse av ungdomarnas behov av eftervård, samt familjehemsföräldrars syn på sin funktion i eftervården. Utifrån Meads symboliska interaktionism samt Bowlbys anknytingsteori analyserades det empiriska materialet. Resultatet visar att familjehemsföräldrarna ser behovet av ett långvarigt stöd för denna målgrupp, men anser att det som idag finns inte kan kallas eftervård. Vår slutsats är att det finns stora brister i eftervården för ungdomar som har varit placerade i familjehem, samt att insatser som finns inte är funktionellt utformade för denna målgrupp. För att detta ska kunna förändras krävs att ungdomarnas och familjehemsföräldrarnas behov i eftervården blir synliga. Familjehemsföräldrars uppdrag i eftervården behöver även utvecklas och förstärkas. / The purpose of the essay is to gain an increased knowledge and in-depth understanding of the use of aftercare in the practice of adolescents aged 18 - 23, who have been placed in a family home, through foster parents stories. To achieve the aim of the study, a qualitative research approach has been used and the empirical material has been developed through qualitative interviews. The study was conducted by six semistructured interviews of eight foster parents in total. During the interviews, thematic areas were indicative: foster parents view of “support and help after leaving care” a.k.a. aftercare, foster parents perception of adolescent need for aftercare and the foster parents view of their function in the aftercare. The empirin was analyzed based on concepts within Mead´s symbolic interactionism and Bowly´s theory of attachment. The result shows that foster parents see the need for a long term support for this target group, but believes that the existing support after leaving care cannot be called aftercare. Our conclusion is that there are major shortcomings in the aftercare of adolescents who have been placed in foster families, and that efforts that are available are not functionally designed for this target group. In order for this to change, it is necessary that the adolescents and foster parents needs of the aftercare are highlighted. The foster parents assignments in the aftercare need also to be developed and strengthened.