RE: Research on Foster Parent Recruitment/Retention

["Kathy Park" <KPark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Children's Research Center (CRC) has a set of assessments designed to assess the support needs of foster and relative care providers.  While the primary goal of the model is to increase placement stability, implementation of the model is likely to have a positive impact on foster parent retention.  The Placement Support model is comprised of three decision support tools that seek to increase safety and well-being of children in out-of-home care, and identify needed support and services to reduce the likelihood of placement disruptions in foster and relative homes.  The three tools are:

1.	Provision of Care Assessment, designed to identify the degree of care the provider is willing and able to provide for a child in each key domain of life functioning, additional services and support necessary to increase the providers  ability and fill gaps in the child's care requirements while in placement; 

2.	Support Assessment, an actuarial assessment designed to identify the level of support necessary from the agency to increase the safety, stability and well being of the placed child;  and 

3.	Placement Assessment, designed to identify whether the placement home is safe for the child being placed and other children in the home, including the potential threat of the placement child to other children. 

Development of the placement support model began with research to design an actuarial assessment used to classify foster and relative providers into low, moderate, or high support levels based on the likelihood of inadequate caregiving.  Studies completed by CRC showed that a set of provider characteristics accurately classified foster or relative care providers by their likelihood of maltreatment and/or inadequate care of a foster child. 

Agencies can use this model to direct agency resources and services to those placement providers most in need of support in an effort to increase placement stability and support foster parent retention. 

CRC research on the Support Assessment can be found at: http://www.nccd-crc.org/crc/pubs/fcrp_support_assmnt_sept05.pdf.  A description of the model can be found at:  http://nccd-crc.org/crc/c_sdm_foster.html.


Kathy Park, NCCD/CRC
608.831.1180 (w) | 608.712-1236 (m) |www.nccd-crc.org

NCCD/CRC is a nonprofit social research organization.
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-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-3211829-6840306@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-3211829-6840306@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Bonnie Ciambotti
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 8:24 PM
To: child-maltreatment-research-l@list.cornell.edu
Subject: Research on Foster Parent Recruitment/Retention

Does anyone know of research regarding best practices for recruiting and/or 
retaining foster parents in public and/or private agencies?

Thanks,
Bonnie Ciambotti