Communication patterns between foster parents and case managers
Introduction
Foster care is a critically needed public program in the United States, having served 437,500 children in fiscal year 2016 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2017). Maintaining such a large government program requires the ongoing and effective coordination of financial resources, employees, families, and community supports. Navigating this complex system can be difficult and time consuming, and as result, burnout rates are high among foster families. In fact, roughly 50% of foster families close their license within one year of receiving a placement (Gibbs & Wildfire, 2007; Whenan, Oxlad, & Lushington, 2009), resulting in higher placement transfer rates and less permanency and stability in foster children's lives. Some of the most common reasons children are removed from their homes and enter foster care include: caretaker neglect (61%), abandonment (5%), and/or inability to cope (14%); physical (12%) and/or sexual (4%) abuse of the child; the incarceration (8%), drug abuse (34%) and/or alcohol (6%) abuse of the parent; and/or inadequate housing (10%) (USDHHS, 2017). These experiences can create immediate and chronic difficulties for children, including developmental and academic delays and poor school performance (Barbell & Freundlich, 2001; Brown & Rodger, 2009) Healey & Fisher, 2011). The literature on vulnerable children suggests that some of the most effective ways to support children who have been exposed to neglect or traumatic life events such as these are to promote stability and patterns of resiliency in the child's life (Ridings, Beasley, & Silovsky, 2016). One strategy for improving stability among foster children is to reduce placement instability associated with high rates of foster family burnout.
Previous research has considered how the provision of adequate training is one way to increase foster parent retention rates (Cherry, Orme, & Rhodes, 2009; MacGregor, Rodger, Cummings, & Leschied, 2006). However, Fees et al. (1998) argued that one of the most important features of a properly working foster care system is the positive relationship between case managers and their foster parents. Although this relationship is vital for keeping families invested in the foster care system, little empirical work has focused on how to best facilitate a healthy, productive, and professional environment for both the case manager and the foster family. However, promoting a more positive relationship between case managers and foster parents could potentially increase the satisfaction and investment of foster families (MacGregor et al., 2006), and thus facilitate more positive outcomes for many foster children by lowering the overall turnover in the foster care system. Children thrive in an atmosphere of stability, but suffer social, psychological, physical, and economic hardships when faced with accumulating instability (Harden, 2004). Children in the foster care system have already been removed from their home of origin, and have new family arrangements, living quarters, and new roles and norms to negotiate, among other things. When the system fails to retain foster parents, it also fails, in many cases, to maintain the stability that foster children so desperately need (MacGregor et al., 2006). To address this critical need of improving foster parent retention, thereby increasing the stability of the foster care environment for children, this study examined which aspects of the case manager and foster parent relationship are most meaningful to foster parents. The goal was to identify successful communication and/or interaction approaches that can be built upon by individual case workers to enhance needed supports, increase retention, and promote foster parent satisfaction, with the ultimate goal of maintaining a safe and stable environment for disadvantaged youth.
To meet these objectives, qualitative interviews were used to identify foster parents' perceptions of their pivotal interactions with case managers, including the positive and negative experiences that facilitated or hindered their ongoing work as foster parents. Supplemental interviews with case managers were also collected to help frame questions for the foster parent interviews and provide perspective on which recommendations could be legally and ethically implemented within a government bureaucracy. The goal of this assessment plan was to provide empirically-based, legally sound, and practical recommendations for improving the foster parent-case manager relationship. We hope that these initial findings will be used by case managers and supervisors to create interventions and training resources designed to enhance positive communication between case managers and foster parents, and promote a more stable environment for foster youth. Additionally, these findings could minimize recruiting expenditures by increasing the retention rates of foster families and improve the overall well-being of all members of the foster care system.
Section snippets
Background
Previous literature assessing foster parents' experiences and interactions with case managers in the United States and around the world, has produced a relatively consistent picture of foster family needs across diverse communities and nations (Brown, Ivonova, Mehta, Skrodzki, & Gerrits, 2013; Fisher, Gibbs, Sinclair, & Wilson, 2000; Whenan et al., 2009). Although foster parents reported having some positive interactions with case managers in these studies, such as providing resources and
Methods
The current study utilized a four-part data collection plan, including: (a) in-depth qualitative pilot interviews with case managers to better understand the key foster parent-case worker relationship from the agency point of view, (b) an online quantitative survey of foster parents' basic demographic characteristics regarding themselves and their family, (c) in-depth qualitative interviews of current and former foster mothers regarding their relationship with case workers, (d) and
Results
The purpose of this study was to examine the drivers of relationship satisfaction between case managers and foster parents. The participants in this study were women from geographically linked, small town farming communities in the United States. In a few of the cases, women had selected into fostering after experiencing difficult pregnancies or infertility. Several of the families had previously adopted or were currently trying to adopt children through the foster care system. Although
Discussion
Previous literature has examined foster parent retention according to positive and negative interactions with case managers (MacGregor et al., 2006), often emphasizing the type and content of interactions as key drivers of foster parent satisfaction (Brown et al., 2013; Fisher et al., 2000; Whenan et al., 2009. The results of this study align with findings from prior research, but add additional insights into what positive communication and interactions might be enacted to support foster parent
Conclusion
The emerging themes from our study indicate a consistent signal as to what drives foster mothers' satisfaction in their fostering role: Clear, frequent, and responsive communication between case managers and foster parents promoted the most positive responses in our interviews, and conversely, mixed messages, infrequent discussions, and unresponsive communication were viewed as the most negative experiences. While positive communication helped foster mothers to feel engaged and committed to
Acknowledgments
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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2022, Archives of Psychiatric NursingCitation Excerpt :Moreover, incomplete and/or inconsistent health history information puts children at risk for unrecognized problems and conflicting diagnoses, but paradoxically, foster parents and resource providers often request psychotropic medications for children and youth in their care as a means of managing their behaviors (Davis et al., 2021; Keefe et al., 2020). This phenomenon mainly arises due to the limited knowledge, attitudes and/or skills to integrate trauma-informed principles into the care process (Barnett et al., 2019), as well as the complexity of intersecting systems in which child welfare case workers need to communicate—including foster and biological parents, social service agencies, and advocates (Denlinger & Dorius, 2018). As foster care children are often victims of maltreatment, this may harm their physical and mental health, as evidenced by the greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung disease, hypertension, and substance use disorders, as well as psychological problems, in this population (Dubois-Comtois et al., 2021; Gypen et al., 2017; Herrenkohl et al., 2017).
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2022, Archives of Psychiatric NursingCitation Excerpt :Yet, paradoxically, they are prescribed more psychotropic medications than children not in foster care placements (Davis et al., 2021; Keefe et al., 2020). Meanwhile, foster parent and resource provider requests for psychotropic medications for children and youth in their care may be partially explained by the lack of skills needed to manage psychosocial issues associated with trauma (Barnett et al., 2019; Denlinger & Dorius, 2018). Chronic issues resulting from childhood maltreatment can be broadly grouped into physical and mental health categories.
False allegations and caseworker conflict: Stressors among long-term foster parents
2020, Children and Youth Services ReviewCitation Excerpt :The present study sought to examine the lived experiences of veteran foster parents of more than ten years and understand the challenges they face and why they continue to foster. When foster parents and case managers work cooperatively together and negotiate decisions regarding the children, foster parents report higher levels of satisfaction (Delinger & Dorius, 2018). More specifically, timely responses from caseworkers, low-pressure interactions, and non-judgmental assistance have been found to be important to foster parents as they seek assistance with parenting (Delinger & Dorius, 2018).
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Present address: Central Washington University, Department of Family and Child Life, Michaelsen 230. Ellensburg, WA 98926. Email [email protected]; office line 509–963-2770.