Previous research has indicated that approximately 25% of the 30,000 youths emancipated from foster care each year experience negative outcomes including poor education attainment, limited employment opportunities, homelessness, lack of access to healthcare, and poor social networks. Despite the existence of federal legislation that requires foster care agencies to assist foster youths to make the transition to independent living, research has revealed that the current transitional planning process is not effective. There is a gap in the current literature regarding qualitative research on youths' shared experiences of the transitional planning process as they transit out of foster care. This study examined youths' experiences with the transitional planning process and the degree to which the plan mitigated homelessness after emancipation. The study employed a descriptive phenomenological approach. Participants were 10 youths age 18 to 21 who emancipated from the Department of Human Services, Children and Youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, foster care system within the past 3 years. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants and semistructured interviews were used collect the data. Social capital theory was used to guide the study. Data were inductively analyzed with management assistance from NVivo software. Results indicated that participants experienced challenges during transition in housing, education attainment, employment, physical or mental health, and finding mentors and continuing support. Participants offered suggestions for improving the transition planning process. Findings from this study can be used to enhance social change initiatives by providing insight into what youths need to better prepare them for independent living.

There is a demonstrated association between children's negative behaviors, placement disruption, and foster parents' attachment style in early childhood; however, there is an absence of research examining this relation among foster children in middle childhood. Researchers have found that in early childhood, children respond more favorably to foster parents with a secure attachment style, while greater placement disruption is associated with foster parents having an insecure attachment style. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between foster children's negative behaviors, placement disruption in foster children during middle childhood, and foster parents' attachment style. Bowlby's and Ainsworth's attachment theory was the theoretical framework of this quantitative study. Thirty-six foster parent-child dyads from 2 foster care organizations in Texas formed the convenience sample. Participants completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, the Parent Rating Scale (predictor variable), the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (moderator variable), and a postbaseline telephone call (criterion variable). The results of a binary logistic regression analysis indicated that children's negative behavior was not significantly related to placement disruption. A moderated regression analysis was not conducted to test if foster parents' attachment style had a moderating effect between children's negative behavior and placement disruption due to the low number of respondents in the insecure style. These findings provide insight into the influence of foster parents' attachment style to children's behaviors. Social change implications could promote attachment theory in the development of training programs for foster parents which may help increase placement stability.

Children placed in foster care are the most at-risk youth group in the U.S., often experiencing negative events and outcomes before, during, and after foster care. Despite the availability of statistical data centered on (former) foster children, little is known about how these individuals make sense of their often negative and rupture-laden experiences. One way that individuals make sense of rupture in life is through narratives. Narratives are important to examine because they allow for better understanding of the experience(s) and what experiences mean to those who have lived through them. Specifically, narratives might also illuminate differences in (former) foster children's emergence from foster care as resilient, or with wellbeing intact. Thus, this study aimed to explore adult, former foster children's narrative sensemaking and whether types of stories told correlate with narrator participants' (self-reported) resilience scores. Using mixed methods, I employed narrative thematic analysis to qualitatively analyze narrative interviews, looking at how participants made sense of rupture experiences. Independent coders conducted a content analysis, coding each story as one of the four emergent types, to allow for quantitative comparisons. A Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that resilience scores differed significantly among story types. Follow-up tests determined that narrators of Thriving after Rupture, in which narrators achieved personally because of foster care-related experiences, and Transformation for Self and Others, in which narrators both achieved personally and assisted others because of past rupture experiences, displayed significantly higher resilience than did narrators of Ongoing Rupture, which framed narrators as stuck in rupture and sensemaking cycles. Narrators of Helping Others and Giving Back, who talked about assisting others in the foster care system because of their own experiences, also trended toward displaying greater resilience than Ongoing Rupture. These results indicate that framing might be as important to wellbeing as lived experiences. Thus, it is important to continue to explore narrative therapy as a means to bolster (former) foster children's resilience.

Master of Social Work / This research is about evidence based practice, which is an area of increasing interest and emphasis in social work today. Initially apparent in medical and health care settings, evidence based practice now has widened applicability to a broad range of contexts and professional disciplines. The ways in which research evidence is translated into policy and practice is itself a topic area for social work research. The study investigates evidence based practice in child welfare, specifically the out-of-home care system. Out-of-home care provides alternative placements for children and young people who cannot live with their families because of abuse and neglect, and generally consists of placement with foster carers or in a residential/group care setting. This research is an exploratory study which investigates through individual interview how nineteen out-of-home care Senior Managers and Team Leaders in the states of New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory interpret and understand evidence based practice, and the degree and depth of knowledge they transfer from research awareness into out-of-home care practice and policy development. The research has three main objectives. Firstly to investigate the understanding of out-of-home care managers of evidence based practice, secondly to determine the influence of relevant research on practice and policy in out-ofhome care, and thirdly to explore potential barriers to evidence based practice. Looking After Children, a social work case management system for children and young people in out-of-home care, provides the context for this research, in which evidence based practice is critically examined. A thematic analysis of the interview data identified five major themes. These included: the benefit of broadening definitions of evidence based practice to include a wide range of influences on practice; the value and importance of 2 considering a broad range of research approaches in connecting research with policy and practice AND the potential for influencing outcomes of social work intervention via research based and influenced guided practice systems and techniques; factors which constitute barriers and also those that enhance the implementation of evidence based practice; the potential for instigating and supporting new research via the use of evidence based practice for purposes such as data aggregation, in addition to practice development and enhancement of client outcomes. Implications and conclusions are drawn from this study in relation to out-ofhome care policy and practice, with particular reference to use of the Looking After Children case management system in the Australian context. These include the potential of a consistent system such as LAC to provide common language and assessment tools and procedures in a welfare sector that is fragmented by lack of national legislation, and the potential for development of national out-of-home care research projects as a result of cross agency LAC implementation resulting in data aggregation opportunities.

<p>The aim of this study is to describe and understand the reasons to why people choose to become foster parents. By using the theory of action we wanted to investigate their intentions rather than their motives. The questions we wanted to answer where: How do the foster parents describe their reasons for becoming a foster home? What reasons do they give fore keeping on being foster parents? How do they comprehend their task and the fulfilling of it? The study was performed by utilizing qualitative interviews with five foster parents, four women and one man. In the analysis we used the theory of action as a theoretical perspective. The interpretation of the results is inspired by hermeneutics. The result showed that the wish to help a child was the primary reason for them to become foster parents. During the assignment new reasons came up and they were to a great extent related to their own satisfaction. Further, the study demonstrates that the foster parents believed they had a large space of action. It is our belief that their space of action had an impact on their willingness to continue being foster parents because they felt they had the power to influence their situation.</p>

<p>Ett stort antal barn är idag placerade i fosterfamilj. Flertalet av dessa barn uppvisar ett asocialt beteende med dåliga sociala relationer. Multidimension Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) är ett program vars mål är att förändra barnets attityd. Det är en öppen vårdinsats där barnet placeras i en utbildad fosterfamilj. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes baserat på nio intervjuer. Syftet var att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt systemperspektiv undersöka hur MTFC- familjer och biologiska familjer upplever effekten av behandlingen. Resultat visar att biologiska/fosterföräldrar upplevde programmet som ständigt närvarande med tydliga roller. Samtliga familjer bekräftar att programmet har positiva effekter på barnet beteende. Programmet upplevdes erbjuda fosterföräldrar en yrkesmässig relation till barnet och biologiska föräldrar en möjlighet att utveckla ett ökat självförtroende som förälder.</p>

<p>Denna studie är en forskningsöversikt med syfte att undersöka hur barnets bästa i form av identitetsskapande, familjerelationer och etnicitet tillgodoses vid familjehemsplacering i släktinghem. Frågeställningar för att besvara syftet var; vad visar forskningen beträffande barns behov av stabilitet i relationer och identitetsutveckling vid släktingplacering? Utifrån detta tittar vi även på de etniska aspekterna, eftersom lagen är tydlig med att barn med annat etniskt ursprung, helst ska placeras inom släkten. Till tidigare forskning har vi använt oss av fem forskningsöversikter skrivna inom området släktingplaceringar. Teoretiska utgångspunkter i studien är familjerelationer och identitet. Materialet till studien har samlats in främst via sökmotorer på Internet. Urvalskriterier var relationer till biologiska föräldrar, närhet till ursprungsmiljön, beskrivning av barnens situation i placeringen och etnicitet. Kravet på de studier vi undersökte, var att de skulle ha varit publicerade i någon vetenskaplig tidskrift. Urvalet, som bestod av tio studier, sammanställdes i en tabell i resultatredovisningen. Därefter delades resultatet upp i teman utifrån frågeställningar från syftet. Resultatet analyserades utifrån den tidigare forskningen och teoretiska utgångspunkter. En begränsning i studien var det knapphändiga underlaget av tidigare studier och framför allt svensk forskning om släktingplaceringar utifrån barnets behov. Denna studie visar att det är stor etnisk skillnad mellan vilka barn som placeras i släktinghem och att barn ofta mår bättre av att placeras i släktinghem, både identitetsmässigt och relationsmässigt. Det finns dock en del motsägande fakta, som menar att det ibland är sämre med släktingplaceringar, utifrån barnets behov.</p> / <p>CAN IT BE IN THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN TO BE PLACED IN KINSHIP CARE? A LITERATURE REVIEW</p><p>This study has a purpose to see how the interest in children can be provided for in terms of identity, family relations and ethnicity in kin ship care. The questions we had, to be able to answer the purpose were: What does the research show about children’s need of stability in relations and identity development in kin ship care? On the basis of this we also include the ethnic aspects because the Swedish law are very clear that children with another ethnic origin should be in kin ship care. We have used five literature reviews about the kin ship subject area in our previous research chapter. Theories used in this study were family relations and identity. The material for the study has been collected by search engines on Internet. The selection criterions were relations to biological parents, the nearness to origin environment, and description of the children’s situation in kin ship and ethnicity. The requirements of the selected studies were that they should have been published in some scientific periodical. The selections of the ten studies were compiled in a table in our result account. After that the results were divided in themes on the basis of the questions from the purpose. The results were analysed on the basis of the previous research and the theories. The limitations in this study were the briefly basis in earlier studies and in the first place the Swedish research of children’s well being in kin ship care. This study shows that it is a large ethnic difference between children in kin ship care. It also shows that children often feels better when they are placed in kin ship care, both identically and in relations. There is a contradictory fact that shows that kin ship care not are in the interest for the children and their needs.</p>

The aim of this study is to describe and understand the reasons to why people choose to become foster parents. By using the theory of action we wanted to investigate their intentions rather than their motives. The questions we wanted to answer where: How do the foster parents describe their reasons for becoming a foster home? What reasons do they give fore keeping on being foster parents? How do they comprehend their task and the fulfilling of it? The study was performed by utilizing qualitative interviews with five foster parents, four women and one man. In the analysis we used the theory of action as a theoretical perspective. The interpretation of the results is inspired by hermeneutics. The result showed that the wish to help a child was the primary reason for them to become foster parents. During the assignment new reasons came up and they were to a great extent related to their own satisfaction. Further, the study demonstrates that the foster parents believed they had a large space of action. It is our belief that their space of action had an impact on their willingness to continue being foster parents because they felt they had the power to influence their situation.

Ett stort antal barn är idag placerade i fosterfamilj. Flertalet av dessa barn uppvisar ett asocialt beteende med dåliga sociala relationer. Multidimension Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) är ett program vars mål är att förändra barnets attityd. Det är en öppen vårdinsats där barnet placeras i en utbildad fosterfamilj. En kvalitativ studie genomfördes baserat på nio intervjuer. Syftet var att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt systemperspektiv undersöka hur MTFC- familjer och biologiska familjer upplever effekten av behandlingen. Resultat visar att biologiska/fosterföräldrar upplevde programmet som ständigt närvarande med tydliga roller. Samtliga familjer bekräftar att programmet har positiva effekter på barnet beteende. Programmet upplevdes erbjuda fosterföräldrar en yrkesmässig relation till barnet och biologiska föräldrar en möjlighet att utveckla ett ökat självförtroende som förälder.

Denna studie är en forskningsöversikt med syfte att undersöka hur barnets bästa i form av identitetsskapande, familjerelationer och etnicitet tillgodoses vid familjehemsplacering i släktinghem. Frågeställningar för att besvara syftet var; vad visar forskningen beträffande barns behov av stabilitet i relationer och identitetsutveckling vid släktingplacering? Utifrån detta tittar vi även på de etniska aspekterna, eftersom lagen är tydlig med att barn med annat etniskt ursprung, helst ska placeras inom släkten. Till tidigare forskning har vi använt oss av fem forskningsöversikter skrivna inom området släktingplaceringar. Teoretiska utgångspunkter i studien är familjerelationer och identitet. Materialet till studien har samlats in främst via sökmotorer på Internet. Urvalskriterier var relationer till biologiska föräldrar, närhet till ursprungsmiljön, beskrivning av barnens situation i placeringen och etnicitet. Kravet på de studier vi undersökte, var att de skulle ha varit publicerade i någon vetenskaplig tidskrift. Urvalet, som bestod av tio studier, sammanställdes i en tabell i resultatredovisningen. Därefter delades resultatet upp i teman utifrån frågeställningar från syftet. Resultatet analyserades utifrån den tidigare forskningen och teoretiska utgångspunkter. En begränsning i studien var det knapphändiga underlaget av tidigare studier och framför allt svensk forskning om släktingplaceringar utifrån barnets behov. Denna studie visar att det är stor etnisk skillnad mellan vilka barn som placeras i släktinghem och att barn ofta mår bättre av att placeras i släktinghem, både identitetsmässigt och relationsmässigt. Det finns dock en del motsägande fakta, som menar att det ibland är sämre med släktingplaceringar, utifrån barnets behov. / CAN IT BE IN THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN TO BE PLACED IN KINSHIP CARE? A LITERATURE REVIEW This study has a purpose to see how the interest in children can be provided for in terms of identity, family relations and ethnicity in kin ship care. The questions we had, to be able to answer the purpose were: What does the research show about children’s need of stability in relations and identity development in kin ship care? On the basis of this we also include the ethnic aspects because the Swedish law are very clear that children with another ethnic origin should be in kin ship care. We have used five literature reviews about the kin ship subject area in our previous research chapter. Theories used in this study were family relations and identity. The material for the study has been collected by search engines on Internet. The selection criterions were relations to biological parents, the nearness to origin environment, and description of the children’s situation in kin ship and ethnicity. The requirements of the selected studies were that they should have been published in some scientific periodical. The selections of the ten studies were compiled in a table in our result account. After that the results were divided in themes on the basis of the questions from the purpose. The results were analysed on the basis of the previous research and the theories. The limitations in this study were the briefly basis in earlier studies and in the first place the Swedish research of children’s well being in kin ship care. This study shows that it is a large ethnic difference between children in kin ship care. It also shows that children often feels better when they are placed in kin ship care, both identically and in relations. There is a contradictory fact that shows that kin ship care not are in the interest for the children and their needs.