Specialized Foster Care
Exploring Child Welfare by Joan Shireman
Specialized foster homes, or therapeutic foster homes, or professional
foster homes, are homes that care for children with special difficulties.
They are a relatively recent service development. These are interesting
homes, with special training and support needs. The children cared for
in specialized foster homes are children with serious emotional disturbance,
medical needs, or developmental delays, who might otherwise be admitted
to an institutional setting. Children in specialized foster care are
disproportionately African American, reflecting the situation in all
out of home care. They tend to come from poor families.
Foster parents receive special training and support services to enable
them to care for these difficult children. Their relationship to the
child welfare system is usually different than that of the regular foster
parent, with more elements of partnership in planning for a difficult
child, and more responsibilities in carrying out the plans. The board
rates paid are higher than those for regular foster care, and sometimes
treatment foster parents are paid a salary. Usually only one or two special
needs children are placed in a foster home. The term therapeutic foster
care is usually applied to families caring for children with mental health
problems, and families caring for children with serious medical problems
are usually designated as medical foster homes.
Resources on the web
Annie E. Casey Foundation:
The website of a major child welfare organization with a focus on long
term foster care. Focuses on examination of critical issues and examination
of practice and policy:
Child Welfare League of America: A
major source of information and data about child welfare services. Lists
conferences, publications. The data system allows display of data in
varied tables to meet individual needs. Extensive catalog of publications.
Council for Exceptional Children:
Focus on provision of training and resources for those who work with
exceptional children. Access to data bases, resources. Emphasis is on
education.
Foster Kids Club: A website
for foster children, containing many contributions from foster children,
and creating opportunites for foster kids to communicate with each other:
Foster Club for Grownups
who Care; A website for foster parents, containing informative
resources on many aspects of foster care, news updates, information
on issues such as taxes, adopting a foster child, links to other
websites providing statistics and research (such as a Time Magazine
article, or books about foster care).
National Information Center for Children
and Youth with Disabilities: Well developed site with information
on specific disabilities, and capacity to help parents or others
locate resources. State resource sheets, and links to national organizations.
Publications include fact sheets, issue papers, material on educational
rights.
Research and Training Center on
Family Support and Children’s Mental Health:The website
of a center which focuses on enabling families of children with serious
mental health problems to advocate for themselves and their children.
Discussion of issues, data trends, reports of conference. Publications
include some on therapeutic foster care.
National Resource Center for Special
Needs Adoptions: Spaulding for Children. Website reflects
the multi-faceted organization, which provides training, information,
and support for foster and adoptive parents, and works to place the
children who wait longest for adoption. Contains material on specialized
foster care, as well as information for foster parents who want to
adopt.
U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Children’s
Bureau: a major source of information and quite easy to use.
It contains links to the AFCARS data reporting system, as well as
fact sheets reporting recent statistics on all aspects of foster
care. Laws and policies are described. Children's Bureau program
descriptions and funding announcements are on this site. Many government
publications can be downloaded.
Useful articles and books
Berrick, J. D., M. Courtney, et al. (1993). "Specialized Foster Care and
Group Home Care: Similarities and Differences in the Characteristics of Children." Children
and Youth Services Review 15(6): 453-473.
Chamberlain, P. (1998). Treatment
Foster Care. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Washington, D. C., Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention: 11.
Curtis, P. A., G. Dale Jr., C.K.Joshua, eds. (1999) The Foster
Care Crisis: Translating Research into Policy and Practice. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press
D'Angelo, a. W. a. L. (1994). "Specialized Foster Care: Voices
from the Field." Social Service Review 68(1): 127-144.
Fanshel, D.,
S. J. Finch, et al. (1990). Foster Children in Life Course Perspective.
New York, Columbia University Press.
Hazel, N. (1981). A Bridge to Independence.
Oxford, Basil Blackwell.
Hudson,
J., R. Nutter, et al. (1992). "A Survey of North American Specialist
Foster Family Care Programs." Social Service Review 66(1): 51-63.
Jivanjee,
P. (1999). "Parent and Provider Perspectives on Family
Involvement in Therapeutic Foster Care." Journal of Child and
Family Studies 8(3): 239-341.
Jivanjee, P., D. Severin-Held, et al. (1999). Family Participation
in Therapuetic Foster Care: Multiple Perspectives. Portland, Oregon, Research
and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health:
103.
McDonald, T. P., R. I. Allen, et al. (1996). Assessing the Long Term
Effects of Foster Care. Washington D.C., Child Welfare League of America
Press.
Reddy, L. A. and S. O. Pfeiffer (1997). "Effectiveness of Treatment
Foster Care with Children and Adolescents: A Review of Outcome Studies." Journal
of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36(5): 581-588.
Schneiderman,
M., M. Connors, et al. (1998). "Mental Health Services
for Children in Our-of-Home Care." Child Welfare LXXVII(1): 29-41.
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