Family and Child Characteristics Associated with Foster Care Breakdown

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Social Work
• Family Studies

Background:

• Foster care placements aim to provide stable environments for children.
• Children in foster care often have histories of trauma, impacting placement stability.
• Understanding factors contributing to foster family dissolution is critical for improving child welfare outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify characteristics of children and foster families associated with the refusal to continue foster parenting.
• To analyze the impact of a child's pre-placement trauma and family intervention program participation on foster care stability.

Main Methods:

• Comparative study of two groups: current foster families (Group One) and families who returned a child (Group Two).
• Utilized a standardized interview for parents and a list of the child's traumatic experiences.
• Statistical analysis, including Mann-Whitney U test, to compare groups based on trauma scores and program participation.

Main Results:

• The degree of a child's pre-placement traumatic experience was a significant predictor of foster family breakdown (p < 0.001).
• Minimal family participation in intervention programs strongly correlated with returning the child (p < 0.001).
• Families who refused continued parenting showed significantly higher child trauma scores and lower program engagement.

Conclusions:

• Childhood trauma is a primary factor in foster family breakdown.
• Insufficient engagement with support and intervention programs exacerbates placement instability.
• Improving the quality and accessibility of psychological and social support is vital for preventing secondary returns and enhancing foster family functioning.