Kinship Foster Caregivers, Caseworkers, and Foster parents’ Reflections and Experiences with Placement and Support in Iowa

Abstract

Kinship foster care has increasingly become the first line of support in child removal cases. Case managers, kinship foster caregivers, and foster parents have perspectives that can inform and enhance services for families and children. The authors investigated the lived experiences of 18 families by conducting 38 qualitative interviews with 20 case managers, 10 kinship foster caregivers, and 8 foster parents. These participants reflected on five themes: starting points for placement, perceptions of and motivations for kinship foster caregiving (e.g., placement considerations, risks in kinship foster caregiving arrangements), informational support (e.g., opportunities, hurdles), barriers and challenges related to support (e.g., financial and instrumental support, child care, respite care), and access to improved social and professional support. The authors describe study limitations, implications for practice, and conclusions.

Keywords:

• foster care
• Kinship foster caregiving
• qualitative
• youth

Acknowledgments

Tera R. Jordan publishes scholarly work under the name, Tera R. Hurt. Data for this study were collected through a partnership between the Youth Policy Institute of Iowa (YPII), Iowa State University (ISU), and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with funding from YPII and the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation. The authors thank Doug Wolfe and HHS for their engagement, enthusiasm, and collaboration. Carol Behrer, Executive Director of YPII, also provided valuable consultation and insight. We are indebted to the participants who willingly gave their time and shared their lived experiences with the interviewers. To review the complete policy brief based on this work and titled, “Transforming Iowa’s Foster Care System to Support Kinship Caregiving,” visit the Youth and Policy Institute website. The content is that of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinions, findings, and conclusions of any funding source or agency.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Youth Policy Institute of Iowa (YPII) and the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation; no grant numbers were issued. The first, second, and third authors received the YPII grant; Mid-Iowa Health Foundation awarded the fourth author a fellowship. The authors are grateful for this support.