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Author: Elaine Farmer
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9781843102274
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Based on government-commissioned research and part of the Supporting Parents initiative, this book addresses each stage of the care process, from placement selection to leaving foster care. The authors consider which kinds of professional support at which stages make a difference, and the foster carer parenting skills that are crucial.
Author: Anthony N. Maluccio
Publisher:
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In recent years, attention has been given in the foster family care literature to adolescents' readiness for living on their own following aging out of their foster care placement. This book offers ideas on ways to help adolescents master the tasks required to successfully prepare for independent living following discharge from foster care. It is practice-oriented and draws upon the experience of researchers, trainers, consultants, and families. The chapters in Part 1 examine the various dimensions of the problem including the concept of interdependence as the goal of services for this population. It also discusses recruiting foster parents, examining adolescent development, and the need for these young people to mourn their losses before they can move on. Part 2 considers meeting the challenges of preparing these adolescents for life after foster care from the perspective of policy and program. Emphasis is placed on the importance of involving biological parents as resources for adolescents and the resources that black foster parents offer to teenagers in their care. Part 3 focuses on practice methods and strategies in work with adolescents and their foster parents. Also discussed are the needs of minority teenagers; problems of maltreatment; discipline; and assessment tools that can measure the independent-living skills of adolescents. (Contains over 300 references.) (JDM)
Author:
Publisher:
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 188
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This second edition features new and updated material, including practice parameters for primary care.
Author: Betsy Krebs
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 2006-06-01
Total Pages: 284
ISBN-13: 9780813540153
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Each year tens of thousands of teenagers are released from the foster care system in the United States without high school degrees, homes, or strong family relationships. Two to four years after discharge, half of these young people still do not have either a high school diploma or equivalency degree, and fewer than ten percent enter college. Nearly a third end up on public assistance within fifteen months, and eventually more than a third will be arrested or convicted of a crime. In this richly detailed and often surprising exploration of the foster care system, Betsy Krebs and Paul Pitcoff argue that the existing foster care system sets teens up to fail by inadequately preparing them for adult life. They contend that the primary goal of foster care for teenagers should be preparation for a fully productive adult life, and that current policies and practice are misguided. The authors draw on their fifteen years of experience working with teens and the foster care system to introduce new ways to empower teens to be responsible for themselves and to identify and develop their potential. They also explore what sorts of resources-legal, financial, and human-will need to come from inside and outside the system to ensure that more teens reach successful independence. Ultimately, Krebs and Pitcoff argue that change must include the participation of caring communities of volunteers who want to see disadvantaged youth succeed, as well as the use of creative approaches such as the Socratic Method to help teens to take control of their lives. Bringing together a series of inspiring, real-life accounts, Beyond the Foster Care System introduces readers to a number of dynamic young people who have participated in the Youth Advocacy Center's programs. Their stories demonstrate that alternatives to the standard way of providing foster care are not only imaginable, but possible. With the practical improvements Krebs and Pitcoff outline, teens can learn the skills of effective self-advocacy, become better prepared for the transition to independence, and avoid becoming the statistics that foster care has so often produced in the past.
Author: Celia Downes
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-05-23
Total Pages: 202
ISBN-13: 0429803605
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →First published in 1992, this book draws on attachment theory to offer a framework for understanding adolescents’ reactions to the experience of being fostered. It discusses the three-way relationship between adolescents, their birth families and their foster families. The experiences of joining a new school or finding work, going missing and returning, and leaving the foster family at the end of the placement are explored. It identifies aspects of family functioning which appear to be helpful or unhelpful to fostered adolescents and considers the functioning of the wider care system and the role of professionals in it. The book is grounded in the day-to-day experiences of twenty-three families who fostered adolescents who would previously have been considered ‘unfosterable’. These experiences were vividly expressed by the adolescents and foster families and provide rich illustrative material.
Author: Bonita Evans
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-02-25
Total Pages: 160
ISBN-13: 1317776879
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →First published in 1998. Part of the Children of Poverty series which includes studies on the effects of single parenthood, the feminization of poverty and homelessness, this volume looks at the shortcomings of the child protection services in relation to young people in foster care. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of systemic shortcomings on the domestic and educational conditions of youth in the foster care system. In addition to studying the impact of systemic failures on foster care arrangements, the study also examined the impact of the protection services' failure to work more closely with youth, and with teachers on student educational outcomes.
Author: William Caine Bell
Publisher:
Published: 2011-09-09
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 9781243763150
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The U.S. Adoptions and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System indicates adolescents comprise more than 45% of the total foster care population. They are approximately 40% of new placements into foster care but represent less than 20% of children adopted from foster care each year. This exploratory study sought to illuminate the voices of foster parents raising adolescents in their homes. The study identified foster parents' perspectives on (a) policy improvement needs from the State child welfare system, (b) assistance required from the State to improve adult outcomes for adolescents in their care, and (c) training parents needed to be successful in fostering adolescents. Utilizing semistructured interviews, this qualitative study examined the experiences of 17 foster families raising teenagers in family foster care settings. The sample was primarily White and middle class; all informants were King County, Washington, residents. Study participants had an average of 17 years as foster parents and had collectively fostered more than 3,000 youth. Key findings suggest that knowledge of the motivations of foster parents provides useful information to improve recruitment, training, and support strategies for child welfare systems. Foster parents who were successful with adolescents expanded their role beyond the basic requirements of the State system. Consistent, easily accessible respite services were critical to maintaining successful foster parenting for adolescents. Results suggest a need for future research to examine perspectives of other stakeholders to improve adult outcomes for adolescents emancipating from foster care. These include social workers, adolescents in foster care, systems administrators, and birth parents. Additional inquiry should explore the relationships between foster parents and young adults formerly in their care and how these interactions affect their life outcomes. Finally, more exploration would illuminate the potential for child welfare systems and other community institutions to promote resiliency in youth in foster care. This study describes two midlevel theories emerging from the voices of study participants: (a) features of foster parents and child welfare institutions that promote risk or resilience for adolescents aging out of foster care and (b) fostering the future for adolescents in foster care: a path toward hope and improved outcomes.
Author: Sue D. Hobbs
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2024-06-25
Total Pages: 145
ISBN-13: 104004168X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This important book offers unique insight into the experience of foster youth from 27 countries around the world. It provides a systematic review of literature reporting the experiences of youth in care, addressing a wide range of key topics in this multidisciplinary field, and presenting the views and perceptions of these young people. Including a meta-analysis on contact with birth parents, it examines youth’s experiences of the foster care system; contact and relationships; caregiving and relationships with caregivers; placements; and emotional well-being. These five core themes embrace a wide range of crucial topics including foster youth’s involvement in decisions about themselves; interactions with social workers, birth families, foster families, peers, and friends; the benefits and challenges of foster care; the stigma attached to being in care; mental health, well-being, and belonging; and developing a sense of self. This essential volume is for students and scholars of child and adolescent development, social work, education, sociology, and public health. Illustrated with quotes from former and current foster youth, and with research-based recommendations for best practices in foster care, it is also for professional social workers, psychologists, child advocates, children’s therapists, children’s attorneys, youth workers, and foster parents.
