Passion for Those Who Care: What Foster Carers Need

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McKay, S., Fuchs, D. & Brown, I. (Eds.). Passion for Action in Child and Family Services: Voices from the Prairies. Regina, SK: Canadian Plains Research Center: pp. 165-184.

Those researching and writing about child and family services generally focus on the needs of the children coming into care. Some expand that focus to include the children’s families, and others include the social systems that impact on them. The needs of those who provide services to these children and their families are rarely the focus of research, writing, or policy. This chapter looks at the needs of one group of service providers: foster carers and their own children. The thesis of this chapter is that fostering can and must become a service that successfully meets the needs of both those who need the service (foster children and their families) and those who provide the care, including foster carers and their families. The chapter focuses on the implications of the needs identified, and on how child and family services agencies could modify the way in which they work with foster carers for the improvement of the system.

Canadian CW research
Book chapter