Type of Submission
Poster
Award
Best Literature Review or Case Study
Keywords
Foster care, foster children, kinship foster care, non-kinship foster care, resilience, socioemotional
Abstract
An estimated 40% to 60% of children in foster care have clinically significant emotional or behavioral problems (US Public Health Service, 2000). Children in foster care experience a range of complex psychosocial issues due to a loss of stability in a foundational biological family unit. Research shows that placement type may have an impact on a child’s socioemotional resiliency and level of access to needed mental health services (Lynch, 2011; Smithgall, Yang, & Weiner 2013; Winokur, 2014). The purpose of this literature review was to evaluate the effect of foster home placement type, specifically kinship foster care compared to non-kinship foster care, on foster child resilience. Methods included evaluation of systematic reviews, descriptive research, and cohort studies. This review synthesizes results from 11 articles comparing beneficial and negative effects of both kinship and non-kinship foster care on various indicators of child well-being including behavior, mental health, financial resources, and placement stability. Ultimately, there was no evidence to prove that either kinship or non-kinship foster care had an overall more desirable effect than the other on resilience. Rather, research suggests that each may offer solutions to specific needs - kinship care providing more beneficial psychosocial effects and non-kinship care providing more beneficial economic effects. While further research is needed due to an insufficient evidence base, the existing research seems to suggest that the most effective placement type for a child needs to be determined based on his individual set of needs.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center Lobby
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-11-2018 11:00 AM
End Date
4-11-2018 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing Commons, Pediatric Nursing Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Commons
The Effect of Kinship Foster Care Compared to Non-Kinship Foster Care on Resiliency
Cedarville, OH
An estimated 40% to 60% of children in foster care have clinically significant emotional or behavioral problems (US Public Health Service, 2000). Children in foster care experience a range of complex psychosocial issues due to a loss of stability in a foundational biological family unit. Research shows that placement type may have an impact on a child’s socioemotional resiliency and level of access to needed mental health services (Lynch, 2011; Smithgall, Yang, & Weiner 2013; Winokur, 2014). The purpose of this literature review was to evaluate the effect of foster home placement type, specifically kinship foster care compared to non-kinship foster care, on foster child resilience. Methods included evaluation of systematic reviews, descriptive research, and cohort studies. This review synthesizes results from 11 articles comparing beneficial and negative effects of both kinship and non-kinship foster care on various indicators of child well-being including behavior, mental health, financial resources, and placement stability. Ultimately, there was no evidence to prove that either kinship or non-kinship foster care had an overall more desirable effect than the other on resilience. Rather, research suggests that each may offer solutions to specific needs - kinship care providing more beneficial psychosocial effects and non-kinship care providing more beneficial economic effects. While further research is needed due to an insufficient evidence base, the existing research seems to suggest that the most effective placement type for a child needs to be determined based on his individual set of needs.
