Foster care can play an important part in the continuity of care choices for children. If administered appropriately, foster care allows children to remain in a loving and caring family while authorities work towards family reintegration or permanent alternatives.
Yet research, knowledge and understanding on how to implement effective, safe foster care programmes in such contexts is often missing. There is a danger that by focusing too much on alternative care placements, such as foster care, child welfare authorities will fail to address the factors leading to child separation and abandonment. Concerns have also been raised that, while foster care can benefit many children, in some cases it is has used when family separation would have been avoidable or when it is not the most appropriate form of alternative care for the child.
Our two newly published reports seeks to fill that gap and offers recommendations. The first report explores these concerns and begins to fill the gap in understanding the place of foster care through an exploration of the literature and interviews with key global and country-level experts.
The second report aims to assist those designing and delivering foster care programmes by providing examples from around the world. The evidence presented in this report suggests that there is no one blueprint of universal elements for successful foster care programmes but that some core components exists that all foster care programmes must have to ensure that they are safe and effective in meeting children’s needs.
Family for Every Child also supported and participated in Brazil’s 3rd International Colloquium on Foster Care, organised by our member Associação Brasileira Terra dos Homens (ABTH). During the event professionals and experts on foster care discussed future development and joint initiatives in the area of foster care.
