How Does Kinship and Foster Care Differ on Caregiver, Family, Cultural, and Community Connectedness?

Abstract

In Australia and most Western countries, the majority of children in out-of-home care live in home-based care, either with a family or community member in kinship care or in non-relative foster care with a previously unknown caregiver. Policy in child protection favours kinship over foster care placements, which is consistent with past findings that children in kinship care tend to fare better on mental health and placement stability outcomes than their peers in foster care (Winokur et al., 2014). There is therefore an important and timely need to investigate why children in kinship care may fare better: indeed, one reason policy prioritises kinship care placements is to preserve and promote caregiver, family, cultural, and community connections (i.e., connectedness). However, there is scarce international, and in particular Australian, research examining this key tenant of policy. This PhD thesis aimed to examine group differences between kinship and foster care in these connections to gain deeper insight into factors which may promote more optimal child outcomes across home-based care. Specifically, across three studies, this thesis examined the quality, meaning, and outcomes of connectedness in kinship versus foster care. In Study 1, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the international literature examined whether kinship versus foster care is more likely to promote connectedness, and in turn, better child outcomes. The research in Study 2 and 3 utilised an interview-based assessment tool to examine and explore how kinship and foster caregivers conceptualise and differ in qualities of caregiver-child relationships. Study 2 examined quantitative differences in caregiver-child relationship quality, as well as in child and caregiver mental health, in a sample of 101 kinship, foster, and birth parents. Study 3 qualitatively analysed kinship and foster caregivers' narratives (i.e., from Study 2; N = 66) about the caregiver-child relationship to unearth a richer source of information about group differences in connectedness. Overall, the quantitative findings in this thesis suggest that kinship and foster families fared similarly on outcomes pertaining to: caregiver, birth family, and community connectedness; and child mental health and caregiver strain. Moreover, both groups experienced significantly more challenges than the community sample of birth families. The application of qualitative methodology captured important, yet nuanced, differences in the meaning kinship and foster caregivers ascribed to the caregiver-child relationship and children's cultural and family connections. Specifically, kinship and foster caregivers both expressed ongoing commitment to the child, but the function of this commitment differed. Furthermore, kinship caregivers discussed cultural and birth family connections more commonly than foster caregivers; birth family connections were often ambivalent, but cultural connectedness was linked to pride and resilience. Relatedly, across the studies, connectedness was broadly associated with optimal child wellbeing in home-based care. Taken together, alongside acknowledging the significant challenges faced by home-based care families, the findings highlight the strengths pertaining to the attachment relationship and child and caregiver resilience. Results are discussed in regard to the need to prioritise the development of evidence-based policies and interventions tailored to the particular strengths and challenges of kinship and foster families. Show more