Supporting Foster Parents and Children

By Kristie Abbs, DSW, MSW, MED

Foster care has been in place since the 1800s with a focus on helping families. When looking at foster care, an identified need is to support foster parents and children placed in these care homes. Foster parents have essential roles in caring for children whose family members have encountered difficulties in their lives inhibiting them from caring for their children. These parents rely on foster parents to care for their children in hopes of reuniting with them. Foster parents allow parents to take care of themselves, learn, and grow to become better parents for their children. The grace given to these parents enables them to gain support from the foster parents, community, and society.

Foster Care Experiences
Foster parents have a unique opportunity to care for children in need. Children come into these homes for different lengths of time. Whether children stay with foster parents for a couple of days, weeks, or one year, support assists everyone involved. These children have typically experienced increased stress due to family situations. While parents are working to resolve issues, the impact of removal from the home can increase stress for the children and parents, placing more strain on the family. Foster parents also have changes within their own homes when children stay with them. In addition, foster parents often have their children or other family members living with them. When bringing in additional children, the family dynamics change. Another essential factor that stresses the foster parents is the uncertainty of when the foster children will leave their homes.

While it is the expectation for the program to reunite the children with their parents, it is often difficult to cope with leaving the foster home for the foster children, foster parents, and their families. Everyone, along with the children’s parents, must readjust to these changes. Offering support is a great way to increase coping skills and foster resiliency for the foster parents and children. Help in various forms significantly influences the experience and encourages foster parents to take in more children when needed.

Providing Support
One of the best ways to help foster parents and the children they care for is by offering them support. Providing support across different settings, such as the home, school, and community, offers increased resources to meet the advanced needs in foster care. Support, which is deeply appreciated by foster parents, comes in various forms; for example, in the home setting, neighbors, friends, and colleagues can offer to watch the children and help with different needs such as shopping, cleaning, chores, and having someone to listen.

Community is another source of support that can enrich the lives of everyone involved, for example, helping the foster parents find resources and ways for the children to join different activities, inviting them to community activities, and encouraging them to join support groups. Activities could include religious activities, sporting, cultural events, and library programs. Encouraging foster parents to take advantage of resources reduces their stress levels and provides them with needed outlets.

Social support is another need that benefits everyone in the foster system. Social workers and other professionals have the advantage of being equipped to offer educational programs on foster care to the public. Education can take the form of flyers, brochures, advertisements, and lectures. Talking about foster care with citizens and encouraging them to become involved increases support to meet the needs of people involved in foster care. When people learn about foster care, they better understand the process, commitment, and conditions of those involved in the system.

Offering Support in School
Another area of needed support involves the school system. Foster parents and children need help to cope with the changes, build relations with others, and meet academic needs. Children have difficulty beginning a new school that is unfamiliar to them. Often children are moved to foster homes that are not in the same school district where the family resides. Therefore, the children must make new friends, learn new rules, and fulfill new academic demands. Changes in school are a high stressor for any child. When children have behavior problems, the transition is even more complex, leading to discipline issues. Teachers and other staff can provide assistance through phone calls, conferences, and behavioral support to foster parents. Setting up additional academic tutoring, involving children in social groups, assigning them a student buddy, addressing mental health needs, and meeting with the student often provides them with additional support leading to success in the school setting.

Supporting Roles of Foster Care
When fostering children, everyone involved plays an integral role in making the experience one of contentment and satisfaction. Understanding how to support the parents and children enables a smooth transition. In addition, support allows foster parents to care for children and help them cope with the many challenges helping to prevent displacements of the children into new foster placements.

Positive experiences lead to more families wanting to foster children and provide struggling parents with the ability to make positive changes, enabling them to care for their children once again. Realizing the invaluable impact of foster care on families provides the framework for added support and encourages everyone to help in some way.

— Kristie Abbs, DSW, MSW, MED, is an assistant professor and director of MSW Field Experience at Slippery Rock University. She specializes in mental and behavioral health and has presented at national conferences.