For many children, placement in foster care offers a chance of more favourable upbringing conditions, which matters from both a child and a societal perspective. But when society takes children into public care, it also assumes responsibility for ensuring that they receive good care during their placement.
A prerequisite for high-quality foster care is having a sufficient number of available and suitable foster families. Ideally, the number of foster families should exceed the number of children needing placement, so that carers can be matched to each child鈥檚 specific needs. However, many local authorities report a serious shortage of foster carers.
This shortage risks having several negative consequences. It can lead to children being placed with foster families unable to meet their needs, or in residential institutions, which in most cases is considered a less suitable option. It can also result in children remaining in emergency foster placements for too long or being placed urgently with families that have not been properly assessed.
Lack of foster families and its consequences
The number of available foster families depends both on how many people are willing to become foster carers and on how many existing foster carers are willing to take on new placements. In a previous project (Foster families wanted. Recruitment, assessment and municipal partnerships in foster care), we examined the conditions for recruiting new foster carers. We found that very few people are willing to consider fostering. The willingness of existing foster carers to take on new placements after a previous one has ended is therefore a crucial 鈥� perhaps the most crucial 鈥� part of maintaining foster care capacity. In addition, many children placed in foster care have complex needs that require experienced carers in order to be met effectively. Ensuring access to good-quality foster families is therefore one of the most important challenges facing social services.
Knowledge to strengthen foster care
Foster care has received considerable political attention in Sweden in recent years. Despite this, there is still a lack of basic research-based knowledge about what fostering involves in practice, how foster carers experience their role and its conditions, and what influences their willingness to continue fostering. Such knowledge is essential for developing social services鈥� work with foster families in a sustainable and long-term way.
The project uses a mixed-methods design. An initial exploratory interview study will identify issues that matter for foster carers鈥� decisions about taking on new placements. The findings will be used to develop questions for a survey.
