Presenter: Julian Bent-Williams

 Foster Care can be defined as the act of rearing a child who is not one's biological or adopted child. It requires one to love, care and share with someone else's child in the same way one is expected to do for their biological child.  Child Development Agency utilizes Foster Care as one of its programmes aimed at achieving the objective of providing a better quality of life for children who have been abandoned, orphaned, rejected or suffer any other form of abuse and are in need of a substitute family (CDA, 2005).

 Foster Care is aimed at providing a safe family haven for children aged between zero to 18 years who have become wards of the State as a result of being abused, orphaned, abandoned, neglected or unable to be cared for by their parents, relatives or guardians.

 Foster Care allows a child to be placed within a loving family home environment.  Foster Care is a legal process that places a child in the care of a person or couple who are not the biological parents of the child to enable them to raise that child and provide a nurturing environment for his or her physical, spiritual and emotional growth and development.

 According to study done by Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA), there are 2,592 children in childcare facilities across the island and 1,159 in foster care.  Official statistics also show that there are approximately 805 foster parents in Jamaica. The CDA has over the years continued its drive in encouraging suitable Jamaicans to become involved in foster care, as it sought to reduce significantly the number of children in residential care.

 Foster care is arranged by public; private nonprofit; for –profit social agency.  Responsibility for children’s daily care usually is transferred from the biological parents because of a serious situation  Foster care is full-time care, twenty-four hours a day, outside the child’s own home.

 Foster care or out-of –home care may be given within a relative’s home, a nonrelated family foster home, a treatment foster home, a small group home, a cottage setting, a large residential care facility, or if the child is old enough, in his or her own residence with independent living program supervision.  Foster care is supposed to be a temporary arrangement, with the expectation that the child will return to the parents or extended family, be placed for adoption, or be discharged from care on legal maturity.

The use of a systematic placement process helps to assure that the agency meets its responsibilities for:  Trying to reunify the child with his or her family;  Select an appropriate form of care ;  Helping the child separate from parents and move into the new child care arrangement;  Helping foster parents or child care staff carry out their responsibilities successfully; and or relatives, or in a new permanent home through adoption, guardianship, or other forms of planned long term care providing a stable living environment.

Children who leave their own homes and enter foster care have experienced varying kinds and degrees of deprivation in parental care.  Social workers have given considerable attention to assessing the likely long – term effects of poor parental care, particularly poor mothers, and to finding ways to help children with the distress they feel at separating from their parents, even neglectful or rejecting ones.  Assessing the child’s attachment to parenting figures increases the worker’s understanding of important relationships in the child’s life.

 Therapeutic and socio-educational groups for children and young persons can help perceptions of the separation and assist in the child’s adaptation to care.  Individual treatment such as play therapy or counseling may also be helpful to the child making a transition into care. In working with the individual child to master past traumatic events, techniques such as bibliotherapy, puppet play, drawing, dollhouse play, or events until some mastery is gained.

 Children who cannot return home, options for permanence include long-term foster care, guardianship, kinship care independence/emancipation, and adoption.

 The government offers a monthly allowance towards the maintenance of each foster child, as well as fees for clothing, books, school fees and medical bills where necessary but it is expected that the foster parent will supplement this to meet the needs of the child.

 Becoming a foster parent demands a high level of commitment to child-rearing. Foster parents are expected to treat a foster child with love, care, dignity and respect, as they would treat their biological children.  Patience and understanding are critical attributes of a foster parent, as some foster children need special care and nurturing as they may bear psychological and emotional scars arising from the difficult circumstances from which they come.

 An adult of good moral and legal standing with a loving and caring disposition can become a foster parent. But there is a legal process which must be followed for a person to become a foster parent:  Applications can be made through the Children’s Officer in your parish. The Children’s Officer is usually located in the regional offices of the Child Development Agency (CDA), an agency of the Ministry of Health.

 In keeping with the Child Care and Protection Act, legal guardians, parents and foster parents are required to provide food, clothing and shelter, as well as an education for children under their care.  The Child Care and Protection Act also forbids children from being sent out to do work to earn income. The law also makes it an offence to deny a child an education, food or shelter.

 A foster parent can be a single individual or a couple. Placement with a single man however, is often only done if the applicant is related to the child or other exceptional circumstances.  Persons between the ages of 25 to 65 are ideally selected as foster parents. However consideration can be given to persons over 65 years, particularly if the individual is a relative of the child and can demonstrate strong family support.  Foster parents must have suitable home accommodation for a child.  Foster parents must live in a stable community.  To be a foster parent, one must be gainfully employed or have a steady income to meet the needs of the child and family.

A prospective foster parent:  Must be willing to undergo a medical  Provide two persons who can comment on their suitability and readiness to receive and care for a child.  Must be willing to undergo a period of training organized by the Children’s Officer to become familiar with caring for children in a manner which will promote his or her growth and development and the expectations of the agency. The foster parent (s) will also have the opportunity to voice to the social worker their expectation of the Agency.  A social worker from the Child Development Agency will conduct periodic home visits to assess the environment in which the child will be residing. This will include interviews with the applicant(s) and members of their household.

 In order to be a foster parent one must be willing to be supervised by a social worker from the Child Development Agency. The social worker will make regular visits to the home to determine that the child’s wellbeing is being maintained.  Fosters parent must be prepared to allow the foster child to maintain contact with his or her biological parents or relatives and allow for the re-integration of the child once a recommendation to that effect has been made by the social worker.

 Foster care can lead to adoption. However it requires due process and an agreement from the biological parents.  In a situation where the biological parents cannot be found an advertisement must be placed in the print media for three consecutive Sunday’s, notifying them of the intention of the foster parents to adopt the child, after which if no parent comes forward to claim the child or if the identified parent agrees, the child can be adopted after six weeks.

 Downs, S.W., Moore, E., McFadden, E.J., & Costin, L.B. (2004). Child Welfare and Family Services: Policies and Practice. (7th ed.). USA. Pearson Education, Inc.  Child Development Agency (2005). Foster Care. retrieved from website:  Foster care under review. (2009). Retrieved from website:  Facts about Children in Foster Care (2009). Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). Retrieved from website: 13.htm 13.htm