PROFESSIONALIZATION
OF FOSTER CARE
TURN THE KEY AND
START THE ENGINE
Baldwin P. Reichwein
In Volume 64 (3) of The Social Worker, Dr.
Waldock set out an eloquent argument in favour of professionalizing foster
care.
I am pleased that Dr.Waldock opened the dialogue
on this subject. Social workers would do well to support his thesis in
the interest of children in care and child protection work generally. In
sotto voce, as social workers we carry some, but not all of the responsibility
for the role confusion in foster care.
The Canadian Foster Family Association (CFFA) published
national practice guidelines for foster care in 1995. The CFFA had the
support of foster parent associations across Canada and of representive
government officials from the provinces, territorie and federal government.
Meanwhile, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) released its supdated
Standards of Excellence in Family Foster Care during 1995. Both the CFFA
and CWLA support progessionalization of foster care.
Having said that, I still have nagging doubts about
grassroot support among foster parents for the concept. As Waldock (p.119)
explains, "role confusion continues for too long has led to unhealthy and
co-dependent behaviour between foster parents and agencies. Instead of
key players recognizing each other's unique roles, strengths and ability
to contribute to children's interests and wellbeing, co-dependency takes
its toll.
It is a daunting task to ameliorate the underlying
causes of role confusion or role ambiguity, but I believe it can be done.
Dialogue about he issue, its causes and remedies, is a good start. The
needs of children coming into care are too complex to be left to untrained
volunteers.
For centuries the trades have had their guild structure.
The people-helping field generally has been slower in getting its act together,
but lessons can be learned form experience. Social work has a history of
making incremental and steady progress towards professionalism, built on
values, ethics, formal education, proactice discipline and progessional
accountability. It can assist foster parent associations by sharing tricks
of the trade.
There is another reality. Several child-related
fields (i.e., child welfare work, residential childcare, daycare, rehabilitaion
work) are gaining professional status quicher and sooner than foster care,
mostly achieved over the last two decades. They struggled and fought for
formal diploma courses, undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate programs
as well as skill-based training programs.
Mainstream foster care unfortunately lags behind,
commensurate with the demands on the "job" of fostering. As noted by Waldock
(p.120), "the view of fostering as purely a 'voluntary' undertaking continues
to conflict with efforts to recognize fostering as a profession." This
is a worldwide phenomenon, as illustrated by the following exerpts from
debates in the United Kingdom.
The development of specialized fostering schemes
in the ' 70's and ' 80's [in the U.K.] showed that carers could be recruited
and retained. Payment of a fee, the provision of training and a knowledge
that their status was that of colleague with social workers, kept carers
in the service. (National Foster Care Association, United Kingdom,
Foster Carers: Payment for Skills, 1993, p.10)
Hansard (8 December 1993 Column 460-466, House of
Commons, United Kingdom) covered the subject matter of pensions for foster
carers. Heresy you say? Well, perhaps to the eye of the beholder.
Regular foster care should not be distinct from
specialist (therapeutic) foster care. Paraphrasing the literature and Waldock's
sentiments, all forms of fostering constitute therapeutic care.
Today most infants, children and youths needing
family foster care have some kind of special needs; the remainder have
what can only be termed extraordinary needs. These children and youths
need a level of service that traditional foster care and child welfare
services were not designed to address. (CWLA's Blueprint document,
1993, p.3)
Foster care by necessity will remain the pivotal
resource for out-of-home placements. As Waldock summarizes (p.126), "The
progessionalization of foster care would contribute to this process of
recognition, and would go a long way towards addressiong the real issue
which is the quality of care." It will enhance the identity of foster parents
as contributing members of society.
Stratix Research in a 1993 survey conducted in Alberta
revealed that "four out of five current [mainstream] foster parents indicate
that they have cared for foster children with sever developmental, physical,
mental, emotional, and/or behavourial problems." (p.2)
The same survey showed that, "38.8% of males and
41.2% of female heads of households [i.e. foster families] have college
education ro better, the balance had high school or less" (p.34). The adult
education system would have no problem at all workin with this target group.
Flexible education and skill-based training models can be designed or adjusted,
recogniaing proctitioners' current education and skills, or to inculcate
or upgrade knowledge and skills where warranted.
Training of foster parents should move away from
government/agency owned and operated models. Formal educational infrastructures
are in place in most jurisdictions to assist foster parents. Let them enter
where other citizens get their education. Associations can partner with
educators and child welfare authorities. Further, the associations should
progress towards governing foster care practices through certification
and a discipline process, following precedents set by trades, occupations
and professions.
It might take a paradigm shift in thinking to effect
needed change. The pressure has to come from the grass roots and their
own body politic.
The fiscal argument that we cannot afford the cost
of professionalinzing foster care is invalid and shortsighted. Society
cannot afford not to allow it. We presently pay a high price in negative
costs for low quality services, unhappy foster parents, poor retention,
endless investigations, studies and commissions. An even larger hidden
cost is borne by credible practitioners who subsidize public services in
their quasi-volunteer roles.
There is a great deal of knowledge and experience
amongst seasoned practitioners, as Waldock illustrates. Foster parent associations
are consumer organizations; they can and should flex their collective muscle
and empower their members.
Foster Parents, please lead the way. Kickstart your
engines!
Baldwin P. Reichwein, Dip.SW, (Maritime School of Social
Work, 1969) is an active member of AASW. He has a career background in
case work, delivery, policy and program develpment of child welfare services.
He
manages the Huntington's Desease Resource Centre for Northern Alberta in
Edmonton on behalf of the Huntington Society of Canada.
He conducted participatory research during
1994/95 for the Canadian Foster Family Association's national guidelines
project, which encompassed examination of North American and offshore literature,
provincial and territorial foster care legislation, policies and practices,
in dialogue with foster parent leaders and program specialists. |
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