Perspective of the child

Family-based solutions for children in care are the preferred option in European nations on the grounds of both cost and quality (EveryChild 2011). Yet, far too often, foster care placements intended to be long-term terminate... [ view full abstract ]

Family-based solutions for children in care are the preferred option in European nations on the grounds of both cost and quality (EveryChild 2011). Yet, far too often, foster care placements intended to be long-term terminate unexpectedly early for (some of) those involved (Kindler et al. 2011; Wilson et al. 2000). In current studies these “placement changes” are often referred to as "breakdown", "disruption" or "instability" of placements. This presentation shows preliminary results from an ongoing international study (2014-2017) titled Foster Care Placement Breakdown (financed by the Jacobs Foundation) realised by Universities in Switzerland, England and Germany. The design of the study is based on the assumption that unexpected foster care placement terminations are not to be considered as the “antithesis of stability” (Backe-Hansen 2010) and therefore the centre of the study aims at the reconstruction of the “breakdown” processes in its interactive dimension as well as the identification of factors for (in)stability of foster care placements in order to draw conclusions for professional impact. In the study the following questions will be answered: What are the influences on different levels that increase or reduce the risk of foster care “breakdowns”? What are the different typologies of “breakdown” processes? What are the turning points for interventions in the processes of “breakdowns”?
In the presentation we will outline preliminary results from the current research in Switzerland only, including quantitative case file analysis and qualitative interviews. Via triangulation of different perspectives we aim at answering and discussing the following preliminary results:
Based on case file analysis conducted in the research project we will outline the complexity of different patterns of instability in foster care leading to placement change. This includes the history of the child prior to placement, the matching, and the stay in the foster family, placement change and situation of the child after placement change. The outlined patterns serve as a basis of discussion about actors and factors influencing the stability or instability of foster care placements.
First results show, there is a great variation in the involvement of the child in the matching situation, during placement and when it comes to placement change, that can be shown by case file analysis on the level of description as well as interviews with foster children on the level of lived experiences. Examples from the case file analysis as well as the interviews will be outlined in order to show this variation of involvement during matching process and the decision-making during placement in general. It appears that this sheds light on a particular understanding of child protection from the professional’s perspective, e.g. arguing that intransparency of the provision of information aims at protecting the child. Due to preliminary results of the research there seems to be a lack of a representative interpretation for the child.
This is resulting in effects for the child, who will be shown by introducing the child’s perspective and explore their experiences and the question about how to integrate the experience of placement change in their biographical trajectories.