| Sumario: | The article focuses on the critical role of foster parents in the U.S. child welfare system and the challenges they face, including secondary traumatic stress, inadequate training, poor agency communication, financial burdens, and lack of recognition. It highlights the high attrition rates among foster parents and the negative impact this has on vulnerable children, particularly those from low socioeconomic and non-White backgrounds. The authors advocate for professionalizing foster care by providing foster parents with better financial compensation, trauma-informed training, emotional support, and integration into care teams alongside social workers. Such professionalization is presented as essential for improving foster parent retention, enhancing child outcomes, and strengthening the overall child welfare system.
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