IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v89y2018icp329-339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Communication patterns between foster parents and case managers

Author

Listed:
  • Denlinger, Melissa
  • Dorius, Cassandra

Abstract

More than 435,000 children reside in foster care in the United States, and despite the high number of children whom need homes, only a fraction of the entire pool of foster parents care for the majority of foster children. Furthermore, about half of foster parents quit within one year of receiving placements. Research has demonstrated that a lack of appropriate foster homes is linked to placement instability and adverse effects on children's overall health and well-being. It is imperative to improve foster parent retention to enhance the well-being of children living in foster care. The current study examined how to best facilitate a healthier professional relationship between case managers and foster families with the goal of identifying concrete ways to improve the relationship and drive foster parent retention. Data were collected via in-depth, qualitative interviews to identify characteristics of the relationship with case workers that are most valuable to foster mothers. Six themes emerged in our study that reflects the importance of quality, timely communication on foster mother/case manager relationship satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Denlinger, Melissa & Dorius, Cassandra, 2018. "Communication patterns between foster parents and case managers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 329-339.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:89:y:2018:i:c:p:329-339
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740917310113
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hollin, Gregory & Larkin, Michael, 2011. "The language and policy of care and parenting: Understanding the uncertainty about key players’ roles in foster care provision," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2198-2206.
    2. Brown, Jason D. & Ivanova, Viktoria & Mehta, Nisha & Skrodzki, Donna & Gerrits, Julie, 2013. "Social needs of aboriginal foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 1886-1893.
    3. Gibbs, Deborah & Wildfire, Judith, 2007. "Length of service for foster parents: Using administrative data to understand retention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 588-599, May.
    4. Ahrens, Kym R. & DuBois, David Lane & Garrison, Michelle & Spencer, Renee & Richardson, Laura P. & Lozano, Paula, 2011. "Qualitative exploration of relationships with important non-parental adults in the lives of youth in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1012-1023, June.
    5. Fees, Bronwyn S. & Stockdale, Dahlia F. & Crase, Sedahlia Jasper & Riggins-caspers, Kristin & Yates, Amy Moeller & Lekies, Kristi S. & Gillis-Arnold, Renee, 1998. "Satisfaction with foster parenting: Assessment one year after training," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 347-363, May.
    6. Healey, Cynthia V. & Fisher, Philip A., 2011. "Young children in foster care and the development of favorable outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1822-1830, October.
    7. Brown, Jason D. & Rodger, Susan, 2009. "Children with disabilities: Problems faced by foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 40-46, January.
    8. Whenan, Rachel & Oxlad, Melissa & Lushington, Kurt, 2009. "Factors associated with foster carer well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 752-760, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Williams, Kimberly A. & Lewis, Ericka M. & Feely, Megan, 2023. "Stay just a little bit longer: A scoping review of foster parent engagement in the U.S," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Miller, J. Jay & Donohue-Dioh, Jessica & Duron, Jacquelynn F. & Geiger, Jennifer M., 2019. "Examining legal representation for foster youth: Perspectives of foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Nesmith, Ande, 2020. "False allegations and caseworker conflict: Stressors among long-term foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Findley, Erin & Praetorius, Regina T., 2023. "Points of foster parent stress in the system: A qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Dowdy-Hazlett, Taylor & Clark, Shelby L., 2024. "Latent profile analysis of risk and protective factors among foster parents: A cross-sectional study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cooley, Morgan E. & Womack, Bethany & Rush, Jacqueline & Slinskey, Kristie, 2020. "Adverse childhood experiences among foster parents: Prevalence and association with resilience, coping, satisfaction as a foster parent, and intent to continue fostering," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Williams, Kimberly A. & Lewis, Ericka M. & Feely, Megan, 2023. "Stay just a little bit longer: A scoping review of foster parent engagement in the U.S," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Festinger, Trudy & Baker, Amy J.L., 2013. "The quality of evaluations of foster parent training: An empirical review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 2147-2153.
    4. Griffiths, Austin & Holderfield-Gaither, Emily & Funge, Simon P. & Warfel, Erin T., 2021. "Satisfaction, willingness, and well-being: Examining the perceptions of a statewide sample of public and private foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Mehta, Nirav & Baker, Amy J.L. & Chong, Jeannette, 2013. "Training foster parents in loyalty conflict: A training evaluation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 75-81.
    6. Cooley, Morgan E. & Petren, Raymond E., 2011. "Foster parent perceptions of competency: Implications for foster parent training," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1968-1974, October.
    7. Van Holen, Frank & Trogh, Lenny & West, Delphine & Meys, Nina & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2019. "Concept mapping the needs of Flemish nonkinship foster parents who care for unaccompanied refugee minors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 84-92.
    8. Orme, John G. & Cherry, Donna J., 2015. "The Vital Few foster parents: Replication and extension," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 33-41.
    9. Ahn, Haksoon & Greeno, Elizabeth J. & Bright, Charlotte Lyn & Hartzel, Samantha & Reiman, Sarah, 2017. "A survival analysis of the length of foster parenting duration and implications for recruitment and retention of foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 478-484.
    10. Davi, Nicole & Jones, Jennifer & Gillen, Martie, 2021. "An exploration of the motivations and barriers to being a foster parent in Florida," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    11. Meloy, Mary Elizabeth & Phillips, Deborah A., 2012. "Rethinking the role of early care and education in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 882-890.
    12. Cooley, Morgan E. & Newquist, Jennifer & Thompson, Heather M. & Colvin, Marianna L., 2019. "A systematic review of foster parent preservice training," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Dowdy-Hazlett, Taylor & Clark, Shelby L., 2024. "Latent profile analysis of risk and protective factors among foster parents: A cross-sectional study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Kothari, Brianne H. & Miller, Rebecca A., 2023. "Intervention development to improve foster youth mental health by targeting coping self-efficacy and help-seeking," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Storer, Heather L. & Barkan, Susan E. & Stenhouse, Linnea L. & Eichenlaub, Caroline & Mallillin, Anastasia & Haggerty, Kevin P., 2014. "In search of connection: The foster youth and caregiver relationship," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 110-117.
    16. Van Holen, Frank & Van Loock, Julie & Belenger, Laurence & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2017. "Concept mapping the needs of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 159-167.
    17. Welch, Vicki & Jones, Christine & Stalker, Kirsten & Stewart, Alasdair, 2015. "Permanence for disabled children and young people through foster care and adoption: A selective review of international literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 137-146.
    18. Tullberg, Erika & Vaughon, Wendy & Muradwij, Nawal & Kerker, Bonnie D., 2019. "Unpacking “support”: Understanding the complex needs of therapeutic foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Chulakarn, Narunest & Chaimongkol, Nujjaree, 2021. "Factors affecting resilience among early adolescents living in homes for children: A model testing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Harding, Leith & Murray, Kate & Shakespeare-Finch, Jane & Frey, Ron, 2020. "The wellbeing of foster and kin carers: A comparative study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:89:y:2018:i:c:p:329-339. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.