To Professionalize or Not to Professionalize? The Positioning of Foster Parents in the Child Welfare System.

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 fos...

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Publicado en:Health & Social Work Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 163 - 166
Autores principales: Douglas, Jessica Knight, Savani, Shahnaz
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA May2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: To Professionalize or Not to Professionalize? The Positioning of Foster Parents in the Child Welfare System.
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          Douglas, Jessica Knight
          Savani, Shahnaz
        affil:
          Jessica Knight Douglas, DSW, is adjunct professor, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA
          Shahnaz Savani, PhD, is assistant professor, social work, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, USA
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        Child welfare
        Occupational roles
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          Child welfare
          Occupational roles
          Social case work
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        child welfare
        copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers
        copyrightYear:2026
        foster parent
        https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlag010
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        publisher:Oxford University Press
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        child welfare
        copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers
        copyrightYear:2026
        foster parent
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        publisher:Oxford University Press
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      ab: 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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    language: English
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