What Motivates Foster Parents?

Foster parents are kind and caring people. It takes a good heart to step up and care for a child unrelated to you (foster care) or even related to you (kinship foster care). We found a great piece of research on what motivates foster parents by Tracy E. MacGregor, Susan Rodger, Anne L. Cummings, and Alan W. Leschied. titled “The needs of foster parents: A qualitative study of motivation, support, and retention.” in the journal Qualitative social work Vol. 5, no. 3 (2006): pages 351-368.
Here is a summary of intrinsic and extrinsic and motivators based on research in the US and elsewhere the authors identified:

Mental health issues: foster kids vs. public

Many prospective foster parents hesitate from stepping up to become a foster parent. One of the concerns is the potential mental health issues of foster kids. The concern is valid because if you are a kid and are removed from your difficult biological family situation there are two sources of stress. The first is theContinue reading “Mental health issues: foster kids vs. public”

US Child Poverty: never been to McDonald’s

Our May 29th virtual event provided new insight to the situation of some foster kids. We were shocked to learn that some kids come from biological families that are so poor that they have never been to McDonald’s.

Foster Child Stability: Is Authoritative or Authoritarian parenting better?

We had a very successful first virtual meeting on May 19, 2021 between prospective foster parents and foster care professionals. Some of the parents had a lot of knowledge about foster parenting and had new questions that sparked spirited discussion. One of the questions was between authoritative and authoritarian parenting.

Become a Foster Parent is a calling

Here is a great news story from Renae Skinner KOAA NBC Southern Colorado. To even enquire about foster parenting needs a lot of courage, a good heart and it’s a calling. You may time to decide as this story suggests: We at StartFosterCare.org aim to connect prospective foster parents with foster care professionals. We useContinue reading “Become a Foster Parent is a calling”

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