Foster parent self-care: A conceptual model

Foster parents play a critical role in the lives of youth in foster care, experience myriad stressors, have high rates of turnover and in turn the child welfare system ultimately over relies on relatively small numbers of caregivers to care for the majority of foster children. While there is a small literature that includes an examination of how foster parents care for themselves and maintain their well-being, to date there is only one study that has primarily examined foster parents' self-care. The purpose of the current article is to highlight the need for greater attention to foster parent self-care and integrate the research literature about foster parent stressors and self-care to propose a conceptual model of foster parent self-care. This manuscript describes the stressors faced by foster parents to illustrate the need for greater attention to foster parent self-care. It then proposes a conceptual model that seeks to expand the notion of self-care beyond a set of practices to an understanding of self-care practices as the result of internal and external factors that contribute to or inhibit foster parent self-care. The authors make recommendations for foster parents, researchers and agencies interested in improving the health and well-being of foster parents.