Decision-making, Predictors of placement outcomes

John Fluke, Researcher, University of Colorado, United States  Dana M. Hollinshead, Researcher, Kempe Center, University of Colorado  Whether the focus is on assessments of clients, foster care entry, or planned permanent exits from care, child welfare decision makers influence these key outcomes. To effectively implement and evaluate interventions aimed at affecting these outcomes, we must understand how […]

Perspectives on assessing foster carers: A cross-country comparison of the factors that are associated with successful placements

Pinto Vânia S.,  PhD student,  InED, REES Centre, Department of Education,University of Oxford, United Kingdom As part of the alternative placement process, foster carers play an important role by contributing to the integration of looked after children into a family environment, and promoting their wellbeing and development. The main aim of this research project is to understand […]

The contribution of matching to the success of a foster care placement

López López Monica, Researcher, University of Groningen, The Netherlands  Kirti Zeijlmans, Researcher, University of Groningen, The Netherlands  Hans Grietens, Researcher, University of Groningen, The Netherlands   Erik Knorth, Researcher, University of Groningen, The Netherlands  Despite the potential influence of matching decisions on the course of a placement, matching remains an understudied topic in child welfare research. The matching is a complex decision-making process in which a […]

Vulnerabilities factors during placement: comparative studies between differents modalities of placement (foster care vs institutional care; placement with siblings vs separate placement)

Camille Danner Touati, Phd Student, Université Paris 8, France Anne-Sophie Deborde, Researcher, Université Paris 8, France As they have experienced abuse, children placed in foster care or in institutional care are removed from their family environment and they are given the possibility to create a new relationship with an alternative caregiver: a foster mother or […]

Foster families and adoptions

Philippe Fabry, PhD student, Université Paris Nanterre, France  Vera Fahlberg, in training guides for British social workers, stressed the importance of explaining to children in foster care the roles of the three types of parents who may be present in their lives: biological, legal and educational parents. In France such work is problematic, as the parental role of the foster […]

Disrupting narratives of failure: How foster carers can help cultivate long term narratives of potential for young people in foster care

Robbie Gilligan, Researcher, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland  The presentation proposes that the themes of disruption and continuity can usefully be seen as being  about more than  the characteristics of the placement(s) provided for the young person in foster care.  It will be argued that disruption and continuity in influential experiences within placements are also important. These experiences can help […]

Towards a more comprehensive concept of support: belonging and recognition

Claire Cameron, Researcher, UCL Institute of Education, UK  Hanan Hauari, Researcher, UCL Institute of Education, UK The English policy commitment to permanency for children in care is preferably achieved via adoption or return home. Foster care exists as a temporary, emergency, short stay, specialist or long term prelude to permanency or alternative placement. The average length of foster placement is 152 days and […]

Kinship care, foster care or foster-to-adopt: which setting is better in terms of stability and permanence for very young children?

Geneviève Pagé, Researcher, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada  Janick Allyson, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada  Sonia Hélie, Researcher, CIUSSS-Centre-sud-de-l’Ile-de-Montréal, Canada  Tonino Esposito, Researcher, Université de Montréal, Canada  When a child aged 0 to 2 years old is placed in out-of-home care in Québec, the Youth Protection Act requires that a permanency plan be put into place within 12 months. Permanency plans include: reunification, long-term care, guardianship, and adoption. […]