"It's already stressful being a foster parent": A qualitative inquiry into foster parenting stress during COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Emerging literature suggests parents were under increased stress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, fewer studies to date have examined the wellbeing of foster parents in this season. Miller et al.'s (2020) quantitative study recommended in-depth, qualitative study of the stressors faced by foster parents during COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: Accordingly, this qualitative study sought to fill a gap in the literature regarding foster parents' lived experiences of foster parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Virtual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with n = 20 foster parents from across one Southern U.S. state between April and July 2021. METHODS: Verbatim transcripts were analyzed utilizing Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis. RESULTS: Five themes emerged in the analysis: (1) Varied Descriptions of Fostering in a Pandemic; (2) Nowhere to Go; (3) COVID-Consciousness; (4) The Virtual Reality; and (5) Stress Relief. Eight total additional subthemes were recorded. All themes and subthemes were described with representative direct quotations from the data. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study demonstrated foster parents experienced both shared and unique parenting challenges during COVID-19. Three areas for further consideration and development in practice included improving online service delivery, strengthening guidance for online parent-child visitation, and enhancing support for foster parents of children with special needs. Developing social support and self-care practices should continue to be ongoing priorities for foster parents and foster parent-serving agencies.

Placement disruption in foster care: Children's behavior, foster parent support, and parenting experiences.

BACKGROUND: The majority of children in foster care 24 months or longer experience three or more placements. Children's behavior problems are a primary contributor to multiple moves, but little is known about how behavior problems and other stressors lead to disruptions. This study focused on foster parents' experiences of parenting a child at risk for moves using the determinants of parenting model (Belsky, 1984) to identify potential correlates of difficult parenting experiences and placement disruption. OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with difficult parenting experiences and placement disruption. PARTICIPANTS: Foster parents (N = 139) caring for children age 8-14 in long term foster care with a history of two or more moves were randomly selected in a large Midwestern state in the U.S. METHODS: Participants completed a 90-minute telephone interview (86% response rate). Placement moves were tracked prospectively for two years. Parenting experiences and disruption were analyzed using multiple and logistic regression. RESULTS: Results support aspects of the determinants of parenting model. Behavior problems, children's risk to others, low support, and stress were significantly associated with more difficult parenting experiences (ßs = .28, .22, .18, .19, respectively, ps < .05), and more difficult parenting experiences strongly predicted placement disruption (p < .01). Risk to others also predicted disruption before including parenting experiences, with this association becoming nonsignificant after including parenting experiences. Unexpectedly, African American foster parents had a higher risk for disruption, despite more positive parenting experiences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support attending to foster parents' parenting experiences, children's risk to others, social support and stress to better support placements of children at risk for disruption.

Apadrinhamento afetivo: uma oportunidade de construção de novos vínculos / Foster parenting: an opportunity to build new bonding

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo refletir sobre como o Apadrinhamento Afetivo pode proporcionar vivências emocionais construtivas e significativas para os envolvidos. Trata-se de um projeto que visa proporcionar a crianças e adolescentes abrigados - que não têm possibilidade de reintegração com a família de origem e que dificilmente serão adotados - o estabelecimento de vínculos afetivos e familiares fora das instituições de acolhimento. O Setor de Adoção do CEAPIA vem participando de parte deste projeto há três anos, com uma comissão de outros dois membros: o Instituto Amigo de Lucas e o Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Para atingir o propósito deste artigo, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura psicanalítica nos seguintes temas: desenvolvimento emocional, apego, vínculos afetivos e situações de vulnerabilidade. Foram consultados também artigos científicos e pesquisas relacionadas ao Apadrinhamento Afetivo

The objective of the present study is to reflect on how Foster Parenting can provide constructive and meaningful emotional experiences for those involved. The Foster Parenting Project aims to provide sheltered children and adolescents - who have no possibility of reintegration with their origin family and will hardly be adopted - the establishment of affective and family bonds outside the host institutions. The CEAPIA Adoption Sector has been participating in this project for three years, in a Commission with two others members: the Instituto Amigo de Lucas and the Ministério Público do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. In order to achieve the purpose of this article, it was made a review of the psychoanalytic literature on the following themes: emotional development, attachment, affective bonds and situations of vulnerability. Scientific articles and research related to Foster Parenting were also consulted