Factors affecting positive transitions for foster children

Abstract

The majority of foster children are forced to endure a multitude of hardships and stress as they transition to new placements (Cole, 2005). This non-random pilot study investigated the foster mother's perspective on factors affecting positive transitions for foster children. The survey results support our hypothesis that foster mothers would find the quality of home life and emotional and physical caregiver availability to be the most important aspects affecting positive transitions. Implications for practitioners include slowly transitioning foster children to new placements and placing an emphasis on natural parenting in foster parent training. Future research would benefit from qualitative interviews and "mixed methods" to gather participants' lived experiences.