| Numerous studies have documented the continuing failures of the government-sponsored foster and adoptive care system in the United States. Although policymakers, scholars, and practitioners have suggested that faith-based foster and adoptive care organizations (FBFACOs) possess unique characteristics and capacities that offer an important solution for many of the foster system's elusive problems, there has been a paucity of research on the leadership difficulties endemic within this nascent industry. The purpose of this study was to identify and explore leadership capacities of mobilizing donors, volunteers, employees, board members, foster parents, and executives of FBFACOs. Data collection in this emergent, grounded theory study involved in-depth interviews of 23 leaders across 6 purposefully sampled FBFACOs as well as the analysis of such corporate documents as strategic plans, newsletters, annual reports, and memoranda. Qualitative research software aided the open, axial, and selective coding of data, and the constant-comparative method, memo writing, and diagramming revealed a theoretical model comprising 7 emergent mobilizing themes (i.e., spiritually based calling, problem construction, action framework, environment, communications, action coordination, and sustainability) and 4 organizational characteristics (i.e., God as the nexus for mobilization, an unrelenting focus on vision and mission, construction of the social problem in stakeholder accessible terms, and the emphasis on relationships as a foundation for solving the problem). The application and further exploration of this model of mobilizing leadership practices will improve the capacity of faith-based organizations to provide for the well-being of foster children and their foster, adoptive, and biological families. |
