M.A. / The South African Government, through its social services, takes great caution about the children and their well-being. To emphasize this the minister of Social Development has priorities, which are outlined in the minister’s Ten-Point Plan. In this ten-point plan, services are outlined according to their priorities and one of the priorities in this plan is the well- being of vulnerable groups, including all children in South Africa. Foster care, as a form of substitute care, is not new in the system. For years, children who have been regarded as children in need of care have more than often been placed in foster care. This method is preferred by the Department of Social Development. The current state of affairs in South Africa, characterized by the high rate of HIV/AIDS infections and death, as well as poverty, calls for more children to be placed in alternative care. Therefore, for such children, foster care has been identified as the most viable option. However, it has always been the researcher’s experience that once children are placed in foster care there is often limited if no contact by the social workers. Thus, the children’s experiences are often not known. The assumption is often that if the foster parent is not complaining about the well-being of the child concerned, then the placement is perceived to be going well. The primary aim of the study therefore was to explore and describe the degree of contentment that foster children have about their status of being a foster child. Quantitative descriptive methods were used in the study. A sample of 67 foster children was drawn from the population (i.e. foster children in Tsakane). The researcher made use of group administered questionnaires to collect data. (iv) The results of the study show that most children have a positive experience about foster care. It is however significant to note that although the children are positive about their status, they feel that less attention is being given to them by their social workers and that procedures about foster care are often not explained to them. Therefore, mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that constant attention is provided to the children in need of care, for without this the social worker cannot assess whether the foster care system is effective for the child concerned or not. The researcher provides inside knowledge about the foster children’ degree of contentment about their status. The results of the study are discussed and recommendations are offered to improve on service delivery. / Dr. E. Oliphant

Clearly very little is known about the dynamics within foster families and the effects of fostering on children. The intention of this study was to understand what happens in the lives of children during their period of placement in foster homes and it affected them and to explore and describe the experiences of the foster parent. It was learned that there is often a breakdown in the relationship between foster parents and the children they foster, particularly with regards to the gaining of trust, the socio economic status of the foster parents also played a part in the success of the placement. This research has found that substance abuse on the part of the children was prevalent leading to great tension within the households.

This research evaluates the results of a change in policy by Oregon's Children's Services Division permitting foster parents to adopt their foster child. A comparison was made between two groups of children, both of whom were seen by their caseworkers as not likely to return home and adoptable. One group was believed likely to be adopted by foster parents and the other believed likely to be adopted by new parents. Process and outcome of placement efforts for the two groups are described and compared. The study sample, comprised of 155 children, were followed for 28 months from the time the decision was made that they were not likely to return home and were adoptable. Decisions necessary to reach the adoption goal were identified, and the time they took were summarized for the sample. An assessment was made of the extent to which variables having to do with characteristics of the child, his history with the agency and the influence of the agency and court accounted for decisions made and time. From the results of this study it appears that adoption by foster parents is a viable option for permanent placement. It can be accomplished as quickly, for as many children, and with no more risk than adoption by new parents. No difference was found in the proportion of the sample who were adopted by new parents and those adopted by foster parents. It took approximately one year, no matter what the outcome. Children who might not otherwise be placeable were adopted by foster parents. These were the older children who had been in foster care longer and were considered less placeable. This provides a placement option for those most difficult to place. Though adoption was seen as likely, half of the sample (74 of 155) remained in foster care. Of these, 31 percent (23 of 74) were freed from parents but not adopted. Children who remained in foster care are the oldest and the least placeable in the sample. For these children the options for exit from foster care are limited, and this seems to call for an intensive effort to find adoptive homes. Also needed is a closer monitoring of cases from entry into foster care to assure that the case is resolved as quickly as possible. Children were more likely to be placed in a permanent home if they liere part of a demonstration project which assigned special caseworkers to work intensively toward the goal of finding a permanent home for the child. Return to parents had the highest priority; or, if this was not possible, adoption. Eleven percent of the sample returned to their parents, though they had been thought not likely to return home. Children chosen for the project efforts were younger and more placeable. Methods used by the project caseworkers should be made available for every case to facilitate their early resolution. Several findings point to a need for some formal case review process. Some case decisions which should have been made on the facts of the case were accounted for, at least in part, by caseworker attitude. Such bias might be reduced by basing decisions on the consensus of several informed people.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-105). Also available on the World Wide Web.

The findings of this study offer agencies useful ways to develop social relationships with foster parents and to implement useful and accessible training opportunities. Strengthening what works well frees agencies to promote these areas to recruit new parents and simultaneously maintain quality foster homes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the training and support services that were available to foster parents licensed with San Bernardino County, Department of Children's Services. San Bernardino county is responsible for approximately 510 licensed foster homes.

Thesis (MSocialWork)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to the South African Constitution, every child has the right to parental care, family care or an approriate form of alternative care. In 2005 in South Africa over 3.4 million orphans did not have access to this right. This was as a result of a shortage of alternative care options. The motivation for this study emerged because foster care is the first placement option for family-based care in South Africa. However there is still a gap in South African literature on the recruitment of foster parents, especially the recruitment of non-relative foster parents and foster parents for cluster foster care homes. Without the knowledge of how to recruit and train foster parents effectively, many children in need of care would stay void of their constitutional rights in this regard. To explore the methods of recruitment, selection and training of foster parents, a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approaches were utilised. Together with that approach an exploratory design, was used. This was done to explore the research topic in literature and examine the views of social workers on the recruitment, selection and training of foster parents. In the literature study the nature and structure of foster care was examined in the context of the South African legislation, followed by an outline of the criteria of children in need of care according to the Children's Act (38/2005). The different phases of the foster care process were discussed according to the tasks and responsibilities of the social worker during this process. Then the different methods of recruitment, selection and training of foster parents were discussed individually on the basis of national and international literature. The exploratory research design was used for the purpose of the empirical study to investigate and analyse the views of social workers regarding the recruitment, selection and training of foster parents. Finally conclusions and recommendations were made based on the findings of the empirical study in order to recommend ways for social workers to be more effective in recruitment, selection and training of foster parents for the large number of children in need of alternative care. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Elke kind in Suid-Afrika het die reg volgens die Grondwet (1996:1255) tot ouerlike sorg, familiesorg, of andersins tot gepaste alternatiewe sorg. In 2005 het 3.4 miljoen weeskinders in Suid-Afrika nie toegang gehad tot hierdie reg nie, as gevolg van `n tekort aan alternatiewe sorg opsies. Die motivering vir hierdie studie is omdat pleegsorg die eerste plasingsopsie as gesinsgebaseerde-sorg in Suid-Afrika is terwyl daar ʼn leemte in Suid-Afrikaanse literatuur bestaan oor die werwing van pleegouers, spesifiek die werwing van nie-familie lede as pleegouers en pleegouers vir groep pleegsorg skemas. Indien nie genoeg pleegouers gewerf en opgelei word as versorgers van sorgbehoewende kinders nie, word die reg van ouerlike sorg steeds van vele sorgebehoewende kinders weerhou. Om metodes van werwing, keuring en opleiding van pleegouers te ondersoek is ʼn kombinasie van kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenaderings gebruik, tesame met `n verkennende ontwerp om eers die navorsingskwessie in die literatuur te verken en dan te ondersoek wat die sienings van maatskaplike werkers is oor die werwing, keuring en opleiding van pleegouers. Eerstens word die aard en struktuur van pleegsorg in die konteks van die Suid-Afrikaanse wetgewing ondersoek, gepaardgaande met `n definieering van die kriteria van sorgbehoewendendheid van kinders volgens die Kinderwet (38/2005). Die verskillende fases van die pleegsorg proses is volgens die take en verantwoordelikhede van die maatskaplike werker bespreek. Tweedens is die verskillende metodes van werwing, keuring en opleiding van pleegouers afsonderlik bespreek aan die hand van nasionale en internasionale literatuur. Die verkennende navorsingsontwerp is vir die doel van die empiriese studie gebruik om die sienings van maatskaplike werkers oor die werwing, keuring en opleiding van pleegouers te ondersoek en te ontleed. Laastens word daar gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings geformuleer wat gebaseer is op die bevindinge van die studie ten einde maatskaplike werkers te lei om meer effektief pleegouers te werf, keur en op te lei vir die groot aantal sorgbehoewende kinders wat volgens die Grondwet(1996:1255) die reg het op ouerlike sorg.

No description available.

Children and the youth account for over 50% of the South African population of approximately 44 million. The majority of these children are raised in poverty and are therefore subjected to various forms of violence and abuse. As a result, many of these children are placed in foster care. Foster care, which is defined by Herbst and Muller (2001:1) as being “any kind of long term or short term substitute care of children outside their homes by persons other than their own parents”, has its own problems, of which the breakdown of placements is but one. To determine which factors possibly contribute to the breakdown of placements, a qualitative study with a descriptive research design was undertaken. Separate self-developed questionnaires were used as instruments for data collection; the one was used for the foster parents and the other for the foster children. Ten children and ten foster parents were interviewed. The study was conducted in Daveyton, with the assistance of the Benoni Child and Family Welfare Society. It is evident from the study that in foster care, children of all ages are vulnerable to placement instability that often results in the breakdown of the placements. The study also indicates that problems such as poor communication, lack of social work supervision and unresolved problems between foster children and foster parents play a major role in the breakdown of the placements. It also appears that foster children experience more problems with foster families than with foster parents. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations for social work practice and future research that will contribute towards maintaining stability of foster placements are made. / Dr. E. Oliphant

"At present, the actual placing of a child in the home is the only real test of whether this home has use for the agency. This seems to social workers to be a risky method. Through analysis of factors involved in success and failure, we may be able to further eliminate some of the element of chance which we now face. There has been comparatively little work done in this area. Through this study it is hoped that caseworkers will become more familiar with some of the factors which seem to operate in success and failures. It is also hoped that by pointing out some of the dynamics behind failure, caseworkers will be aided in the home study process. The tentative conclusions reached in this paper may provide basis for further study"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "May, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Margaret B. Bailey, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 54).