Foster families wanted. Recruitment, assessment and municipal partnerships in foster care

Foster care is the prioritized placement form for children and young people, who cannot live with their parents.

Good quality foster care requires the recruitment of a sufficient number of foster carers and that the suitability of foster carers is ensured.

The shortage of foster homes, as well as the competition over foster homes between municipal social services and private suppliers makes this difficult, however.

The recruitment process must be understood in relation to the specific position of foster care in between parenthood, professional and voluntary social work, to changes in the social contract and recent shifts in foster care politics.

The project aim is to examine possible explanations for the shortage of foster homes by posing three overarching questions: 1) Why do not more people apply to become foster carers? 2) On what grounds are applicants assessed as suitable or not suitable? 3) How is the competition over foster carers handled by municipalities through partnerships?

In substudy 1 2000 women and men, who belong to the target group of recruitment efforts, but have not applied to become foster carers will be invited to participate in a survey about their views on foster care and their own capacity to serve as foster carers.

Substudy 2 entails an analysis of assessment methods (2a), and an examination of on what grounds applicants are assessed as suitable or unsuitable (2b).

Data will be collected with the aid of a study specific assessment log and focus group discussions with foster care case workers.

Substudy 3 examines what constitutes factors for success as well as failure, and what can be learned from previous regional partnerships for the recruitment and assessment of foster carers.

The research questions, and the assessment log that is used in sub study 2, are developed in collaboration with social services in several municipalities and SKR (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions) within a project funded by a Forte planning grant.