Ecological correlates of effective foster care

Caring for children, who have been removed from the care of their biological parents due to abuse and neglect, is a major undertaking. Unfortunately, the need for effective foster care continues to plague this country. The ultimate goal of substitute care is to provide child victims of maltreatment with a safe and nurturing home environment. The goal of this study is to identify ecological factors correlated with effective non-kin family foster care. Various levels of analysis were considered including individual, family and community. The concept of effective foster care is subjective and to date there is not a standardized definition. For the purpose of this study, effective care is comprised of two components, permanency and safety.;This theory driven research project is guided by Belsky's (1980), ecological conceptual framework. Utilizing case manager surveys and administrative data (existing case records) the following four predictor variables were explored: (1) motivation, (2) ontogenetic development, (3) family interaction, and (4) community interaction. The sample consisted of 150 currently licensed, non-kin family foster homes providing both basic and therapeutic care. Data analysis included bivariate analysis in the form of chi-square tests and multivariate analysis consisting of forward logistic regression.;Bivariate analysis was utilized to identify significant relationships between the criterion variable effective foster care and each predictor variable. Chi-square test results identified 12 of 17 significant variables. These variables were then analyzed with logistic regression. Results of the statistical analysis identified three variables as significant predictors of effective foster care. Parent-child interaction, participation in religious activities and agency training were shown to be significant correlates of effective foster care. The model was able to correctly classify 80% of the cases. The findings of this study provide implications for social work in the areas of research, policy, and practice, which are presented. The many advantages of identifying correlates of effective foster care include increasing foster parent retention, improving service delivery to foster parents, decreasing the number of placement disruptions and ultimately improving the overall quality of care to children placed in foster care.