The foster parent's role on a foster child's care team: does a definitive role and inclusivity influence foster parent retention?

Foster parent retention has been an ongoing issue, with the end results presenting a need for repeated recruitment and training. Through a literature review of peer-reviewed articles based on research from westernized countries and relating to foster parenting satisfaction in the foster care role, this paper examines the roles for foster parents, services they receive, and their participation on a child’s care team. Results from the research indicate that foster parents have identified concerns around training, behavioural challenges of the children, and communication concerns with social workers which have created dissatisfaction and resulted in retention issues. Foster parents do not appear to have a definitive role and this is an issue for sustainability. No conclusion could be made from the existing research as to whether inclusivity on the child’s care team would increase retention. Future research would be beneficial in exploring training and support needs, particularly with respect to foster parents managing children with behavioural challenges and identifying whether the paraprofessional role for foster parents would increase the retention rates of foster homes.