Socio-educative key actions to promote family participation in foster care processes

Abstract

The positive parenting perspective is contributing towards changing the intervention model with families involved in the child welfare system. From this perspective, the participation of the biological family is seen as a key factor which facilitates the returning home of children, promotes parent involvement and helps to create awareness about the real reasons for the family separation. This research shows the results of a study carried out in Spain, the aim of which was to analyze the participation of the family at the beginning of the separation, a crucial moment for the intervention. To achieve this goal, a qualitative study was carried out using an exploratory design with focus groups and semi-structured interviews of 135 participants: 63 professionals who worked in child welfare, 30 fostered children and adolescents and 42 fathers and mothers who were the parents of these children and adolescents. The results of the study consider some areas related to the information that families received in depth, as well as their involvement and participation in the fostering process. Some findings may be highlighted include the lack of information provided about the legal aspects of fostering, the lack of knowledge related to the characteristics of foster placement and the few opportunities for parents to be involved in decision making. In this regard, the article proposes different socio-educative key actions to improve professional practices and to reinforce the involvement of parents.