Hope For Foster Children

Why are foster care family dropout rates so high?
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According to the Nation Counsel on State Legislature study 30 to 50 % of Foster Parents quit every year.

http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=16406
Most states are experiencing a serious shortage of qualified foster parents. Between 1984 and 1995, the number of children in foster care increased 68 percent, while the number of foster parents decreased by 4 percent.
1) The principal cause of this shortage is the inability of child welfare agencies to retain the foster parents they have recruited. Turnover among foster parents is extremely high; some agencies lose from 30 percent to 50 percent of their caregivers every year.
2) This trend increases the risk that children will be inappropriately placed in expensive institutions or with families that are unprepared to meet their complex needs. It also puts pressure on child welfare agencies to license marginal homes and to place children away from their families and communities.
Our Interstate Adoption Program helps avoid these problems.

Why Do Foster Parents Quit?
Although some foster parents quit because of normal life changes such as a return to work or the birth of a child, many leave because of a lack of support from the child welfare agency and a feeling of being undervalued and unappreciated (table 1). These problems are, in large measure, attributable to high turnover among foster care caseworkers. Lack of continuity in relationships with caseworkers makes it difficult for foster parents to maintain the trust, respect and support they need from the child welfare system. In addition, foster parents frequently are asked to care for children with serious physical, emotional and behavioral problems but often are poorly trained, not given adequate information about the children in their care, and are left on their own to negotiate a fragmented and confusing service delivery system. They usually are not consulted when decisions are made on behalf of the child. The monthly payments they receive are, in many cases, insufficient to cover their expenses. They often are confused about their roles, rights and responsibilities but may be labeled as troublemakers if they ask questions or seek help from caseworkers.

Table 1: Five Top Reasons Foster Families Decide to Quite Fostering
Current Foster Parents Who Plan to Quit
1. No say in child's future (46.3 percent)
2. Hard to see child leave (46.0 percent)
3. Lack of agency support (36.3 percent)
4. Return to work full time (31.5 percent)
5. Lack of day care (29.9 percent)


Former Foster Parents
1. Lack of agency support (40.5 percent)
2. Poor communication with worker (38.1 percent)
3. Child's behavior (36.0 percent)
4. Expect to adopt (27.7 percent)
5. No say in child's future (25.1 percent)

Source U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Survey of Current and Former Foster Parents, 1993.
http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/children/0505snapshot.asp
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Why Adoptive Parents quit on the foster care system:
Office of Social Work Specialty Practice

Current research indicates that more than 500,000 children in the foster care system will be looking for “forever families,” either through a reunion with their birth parents or adoption by a foster parent or relative (Casey Family Programs, 2005). A new study by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute entitled, “Listening to Parents: Overcoming Barriers to Adoption of Children from Foster Care” (Evan B. Donaldson Institute, 2005), finds that a major reason why so many children have not found homes is that the vast majority of prospective parents feel encumbered by a system they perceive as too frustrating, bureaucratic, and unfriendly.

This study is considered to be the largest one ever undertaken of attrition rates among prospective adoptive parents of children from foster care. It found that 78 percent of the adults who called an agency for more information about adopting a child from foster care will not fill out an application or attend an orientation meeting, and just 6 percent of those who call for more information will actually complete the adoption home study, which is required for all prospective parents. Further, many of those who do complete a home study end up leaving the child welfare agency without ever adopting. . In 2000 and 2001, approximately 127,000 children were adopted annually in the United States (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, 2004). Adoptions from public agencies, which find homes for children in foster care, account for 40% of all adoptions.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute study was based on surveys of over 40 states, analysis of data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), more than 140 case record reviews, and case studies of adoption practices in Boston, Miami, and San Jose. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with parents and state and private adoption workers at various stages in the adoption process.
Among the study’s major findings:
  • The first call is key. For some callers, their first inquiry about adoption comes at the end of a painful journey that may include illness, infertility, degrading medical procedures, or unbearable loss. Prospective parents too often have alienating or unhelpful initial contact with child welfare agencies; for example, they cannot reach the right person when they call and/or discover the worker they talk to has inadequate knowledge about the process or is insensitive to their emotional needs.
  • The emphasis is too often on weeding out unsuitable applicants rather than retaining good ones, especially at the start of the process. The result is that many adults who truly want to adopt do not receive enough information or support, but rather, get scared off or become exasperated and give up.
  • The attrition rate of prospective parents rises sharply in the process from initial call to adoption. The research indicates that states receive about 240,000 inquiries per year regarding the adoption of a child from foster care, but only a small fraction who call for information eventually adopt such a child.