Short-term family foster care in Flanders: An exploratory study into the factors associated with family reunification decisions

Frank Van Holen, Laurence Belenger, Elke Carlier, Babette Potoms and Johan Vanderfaeillie

Children and Youth Services Review, 2018, vol. 94, issue C, 699-708

Abstract: Since the entry into force of the foster care decree in Flanders (01/01/2014), a distinction is made between short-term and long-term family foster care. In short-term foster care, a foster child is placed in a foster family for at most one year with the aim of reunification, or, if this is not possible, clarifying the child's future (long-term family foster care or residential care). The present study is the first to examine reunification rates and characteristics associated with reunification decisions in Flemish short-term foster care. Case files of 125 short-term foster care placements that started after 01/01/2014 and ended before 31/12/2015 of all Flemish foster care agencies were analyzed. Short-term foster care resulted in 27% of the cases in a reunification. Bivariate analyses showed that seventeen variables were significantly associated with a reunification. Inclusion of these variables in a logistic regression model resulted in a significant model that explained 52% of the variance, with the only predictive variable being the pedagogical skills of the mother at the end of the placement. This is promising. It implies that in developing a methodology to promote reunification, improving the pedagogical skills of mothers must be given a prominent place.

Keywords: Family foster care; Short-term foster care; Family reunification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:94:y:2018:i:c:p:699-708

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.09.020

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