Decision-making process of matching in foster care

Background and aim

In the Netherlands, the preference is to place children in family foster care placement when out-of-home care is necessary. While the importance of matching children with foster families is well known, little research is conducted on matching. The matching decision appears to be related to the skills, competences and experience of the professional. Future professionals do not yet possess this practical knowledge and experience, making it possible to examine which characteristics they find important in the matching decision based on their individual characteristics and scientific knowledge from their professional education. Therefore, this study focused on the differences and similarities between the matching decisions of future professionals.

Method

In this explorative research, a semi-structured interview has been conducted with 6 last year students of a college education program for social care workers. A convenience sample was used in this study. Vignettes of foster children and families are used to simulate a matching situation. During the interview, the key question was: ‘If you were a matcher, which family would you approach for this foster child?’.

Results

The students provided several protective and risk factors. Some were used in their decision-making in general, while others were specific for the presented vignettes. The most commonly mentioned factors were categorized as: family composition, foster carers’ experience, living situation, profession, social network or communication, religion, cultural background or nationality, biological parents, wishes of the parents, leisure activities of foster carers and the fit of the child and the foster carers. The vignette specific factors were related to the specific characteristics of the child that was described in the vignettes. Noticeable were the differences in the resulting decisions, the number of arguments for a specific decision and the content of their arguments.

Conclusion and recommendations

In conclusion, matching does not only concern child and foster family characteristics, but also the interaction between them. Furthermore, personal aspects appear to change the matching decision-making process, since some students clearly take more variables into account compared to other students with the same educational background. Training for future matchers is, therefore, recommended to decrease the influence of personal aspects and focus on evidence-based instruments and procedures. Future research should not only focus on separate child or foster family characteristics, but also on the interaction between those characteristics.

Keywords

Family foster care, matching, decision making, future professionals, protective factors, risk factors.

Supervised by:Mónica López Lopez and Kirti Zeijlmans