Objectives Studies on matching decision making in family foster care have shown different characteristics of the child and the foster family that could or should be the focus of the decision making process, such as ethnicity,... [ view full abstract ]
Objectives
Studies on matching decision making in family foster care have shown different characteristics of the child and the foster family that could or should be the focus of the decision making process, such as ethnicity, temperament or attachment style. However, the pool of foster carers with which a child can be matched is limited and it can be hard for practitioners to decide which of the characteristics that are mentioned in the literature (cf. Zeijlmans, López, Grietens, & Knorth, 2016) should be prioritized in matching a child with a foster family. Therefore, it is important to know how professionals make their decisions and which factors have an influence on this matching process.
Method
Using a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 professionals who make the matching decisions in foster care organisations in the Netherlands. These professionals originated from 17 organisations in the Netherlands. Each interview lasted approximately 90 minutes and focused on the method of matching they used, the characteristics they considered, and also the differences they saw between themselves and colleagues. Examples of recent cases were asked to clarify and illustrate their answers. After the interviews were transcribed, the researchers analysed the data by using a thematic analysis focused on the process of decision making.
Results
The results show that matching decisions are not only influenced by case factors, but also by personal, organisational, and external factors (cf. Baumann et al, 2013). Each professional aims to act on behalf of the child’s best interest, but the characteristics that they consider to ensure that the matching results in a good placement are often based on their own judgement and experience. Especially the lack of resources, such as time and potential foster carers, has a great influence on the matching process and presents the practitioners with a constant struggle. The mechanism used to match in these difficult conditions could be described as a spiraling process in which the practitioner continuously searches for a foster family that is closest to the perfect match. Interestingly, the practitioners all describe matching as the process of choosing a substitute family; however, in practice, there often was not much of a choice and the steps that they took were more related to providing a good start of a placement.
Conclusions
Due to the obstacles that professionals face while making a matching decision, the personal and organizational factors can exert a great influence on the outcomes of matching. Matching has the potential to be more than choosing the best foster carer for a child by identifying the potential risks of a match that might need more training or supervision later. More research on the complexities of matching should be conducted to help practitioners with this task.
References
Baumann, D. J., Dalgleish, L., Fluke, J., & Kern, H. (2011). The decision-making ecology. Washington, DC: American Humane Association.
Zeijlmans, K., López, M., Grietens, H., & Knorth, E.J. (2016). Matching decision making in family foster care: A review of empirical research (submitted for publication).
Assessment and decision making in child welfare , Family foster care and adoption
