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Browsing by Author "Francisco Branco"

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  • The Foster Family Process to Maintain the Will to Remain in Foster Care—Implications for a Sustainable Programme
    Publication . Elisete Diogo; Francisco Branco
    There were 7032 children in out-of-home care in 2018 in Portugal. Of these, only 2.8% were in foster care, despite this being the recommended response according to legal regulations. It is critical that more families be encouraged to become foster carers and also that experienced carers stay in the system to create a sustainable programme. How is the will to foster a child maintained? What can we learn from foster families’ experiences to improve childcare and the child protection system? The methodology of this study was based on interviews with foster carers. The analysis was inspired by grounded theory. We found three types of foster families, classified according to their will to leave or remain in foster care—unconditional, hesitant, or retired. The results suggest that the key elements for foster carers to remain in the foster care system are (i) their level of satisfaction with how the previous placement concluded, (ii) keeping in touch with the ex-foster child, (iii) the feeling of acknowledgement by all the stakeholders, and (iv) the quality of social services as well as the support of the professional teams.
    2020-09-25Research article Open access Show more
  • How Do People Become Foster Carers in Portugal? The Process of Building the Motivation
    Publication . Elisete Diogo; Francisco Branco
    Act no. 142/2015 highlights the importance of children out-of-home being placed in a family context. However, foster care continues to be an almost absent component in the Portuguese childcare system. In 2017, it corresponded to just 3% of out-of-home care. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the reasons for becoming a foster family. It adopted a qualitative approach, using carers’ narrative interviews and practitioners semi-structured interviews, inspired by grounded theory. Foster family motivation is rooted in altruism, affection for children and sensitivity to maltreatment. These factors, as well as personal life course and contact with out-of-home care, induce a predisposition to become a foster family. The quality of the support services and the care professionals’ performance also reveal key elements.
    2019-08-01Research article Open access Show more