Results of SOP, an intensive support program to improve collaboration between birth and foster parents

Objectives: When a child is placed into family foster care, a good collaboration between birth and foster parents must be established. A good collaboration between both parties is associated with more stable foster placements.... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives:
When a child is placed into family foster care, a good collaboration between birth and foster parents must be established. A good collaboration between both parties is associated with more stable foster placements. Nevertheless, this collaboration is not always easy and conflicts may arise. Internationally, these conflicts are an important cause of placement breakdown. Awareness about the importance of a good collaboration rises, as does the need for an effective manualized intervention to prevent or help overcome cooperation issues. The current study presents the short-term results of an intensive support program, named SOP (Samenwerking Ondersteunen in Pleegzorg), especially developed to improve the collaborative relationship between birth and foster parents.

Method:
To evaluate the effects of the SOP-intervention a randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed. Four out of five foster care services in Flanders participated. Thirty foster care placements with a poor cooperation were recruited. The intervention group (n = 17) received the SOP program; the control group (n = 13) was assigned to a seven-month wait-list while receiving care as usual. For both groups, the collaboration between birth and foster parents was measured at three points in time: before inclusion in the RCT, after the RCT and after a three months follow-up period. The three involved participants (birth parents, foster parents and foster care worker) were asked to assess the collaboration. The overall collaboration was rated on 5-point scale (1 = very poor collaboration, 5 = very good collaboration). Additionally, different subscales of collaboration were rated (arrangements, feedback, listening, disagreements, perception, contribution and role clarity). Missing data were completed using multiple imputation. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed for each subscale to determine intervention-effects, while controlling for pre-intervention score and type of placement.

Results:
A short-term intervention-effect of SOP was found for the overall score of collaboration as rated by the foster parents and foster care workers. Furthermore, positive short-term effects of the SOP-intervention were found on the different subscales of collaboration. The involved persons experienced improvements in different ways. Looking at the scores of birth parents, there was progress in making agreements, listening, perception, and contribution. The scores of foster parents showed progress in feedback, listening, perception and contribution. According to the foster care workers, birth and foster parents improved on feedback, perception, contribution and role clarity.

Conclusion:
The short-term results are promising and indicate that support from the SOP-intervention improves the working relationship between birth and foster parents. Although the three involved parties have different views on which aspects of collaboration improved, all parties agreed that the SOP-intervention is effective in improving some aspects of collaboration.