Types of foster care
Foster care can be done in different ways. For example, foster parents can take care of children for less than a year, or until the child is an adult. Part-time nursing care is also possible. A child is then cared for by a host family for a few hours or several days a week.
For all these groups, the study showed that healthcare problems were the main reason for stopping. Other reasons given by parents included a poor relationship with biological parents, and the impact that care had on their entire family.
The Netherlands Youth Institute (NJi), which helped to carry out the research, recognizes the foster parents’ concerns. “We have known for some time that it is not always possible to give foster parents the right guidance,” says researcher Stefanie Abrahamse. “Due to the growing demand for foster care, extra help is not always available at the right time.”
Little aftercare
The NJi also signals that it often goes wrong in aftercare for families. According to Abrahamse that is very important. Including a child in your own family brings about many changes, says the researcher. “Moreover, if a child goes away unplanned or unexpectedly, then foster parents can experience that as loss or mourning.”
A lot can also have changed within families themselves after foster care. Abrahamse: “The tensions often run high, the relationship between foster parents themselves can also have deteriorated throughout the situation. But when the child leaves, these problems do not suddenly disappear in the family.”
According to Abrahamse, municipalities, foster care providers and youth care professionals have a task to invest more in foster care. “If children cannot live at home, we would like them to be included as a family. But that does demand a lot from the foster care sector and from the foster parents themselves.”
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