Caring for foster children: The relationship dynamics of foster parents' and children's characteristics, and its impact on foster children's daily lives

This dissertation aimed to address the gap in research that relates to foster parents' and children's characteristics and foster children's familial, social, and scholastic outcomes during their foster care placements. The two broad categories of foster parents' characteristics included 1) parenting skills and 2) socio-economic stressors. The two specific categories of foster children's characteristics included 1) age and 2) whether or not they participated in intensive treatment foster care (ITFC) services.;In this study, I have attempted to address the following questions, which are essential to foster care outcomes: 1. Are there any significant improvements in foster children's familial, social, and scholastic functioning after six months of foster care placement? 2. Do foster parents' and children's characteristics predict familial, social, and scholastic outcomes in foster care? This study utilized archival data collected by Aldea Children and Family Services in Fairfield, California. The sample included 39 male and female foster children ranging in age from 0 to18 years old. A pre-post treatment within subjects design was utilized to explore functional outcomes for foster children after six months of placement. Outcomes in this research were determined by the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths instrument (CANS; Lyons, Sokol, Khalsa, & Lee, 1999). The study utilized an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple linear regressions to analyze the data.;The results of this study indicated that there were no significant effects on foster children's outcomes after six months of foster care placement and no significantly statistic relationships were established between parenting skills and foster children's characteristics of age and participation in ITFC services and their familial, social, and scholastic outcomes. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between foster parents' socio-economic stressors and children's family functioning.;The clinical implication of this study is that foster children are greatly impacted by the socio-economic stressors of their foster parents. Their struggles in the foster home do not occur in silos but are a larger symptom of the family system as a whole. Future research should continue to explore the relationship dynamics between foster parents and the children that they care for.