Mothers' Experience of Separation from their Children and the Role of Mentoring

Background and purpose. Among biological mothers of children in foster care, relationships that provide emotional and instrumental supports hold promise as a mechanism to facilitate achieve reunification (Marcenko & Striepe, 1997) and to reclaim the mothering role in ways that are healthy and safe (Carlson, Matto, Smith, & Eversman, 2006). The investigators have conducted two pilot studies of mentoring interventions with parents of children in foster care (Study 1: N = 32, Study 2: N= 72). In both pilots, specially trained mentors worked with birth parents to strengthen their capacity to provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children. It was theorized that attainment of this more proximal goal would contribute to higher rates of reunification, shorter stays in care and reduced rates of reentry. The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative analysis of the two projects to identify common themes regarding maternal experiences of child placement, the anticipated and actual perceived benefits of mentor support, and the elements of the mentoring relationship that facilitated the goal of reunification. Methods. Sample. The sample consists of 104 biological mothers whose children were in foster care and their mentors. Both projects were carried out in Washington State. Demographically, the mothers were mostly white (70%), single (65%), and low-income. Their mentors also were mostly white (90%) and female, with an average age of 50. Data collection. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with biological parents and phone interviews with mentors. In the qualitative component of this study parents were asked in an open-ended format about their experiences in child welfare, their goals for mentoring and their actual experiences in the mentor relationship. Mentors were asked about how they engaged with the parent, how they experienced the mentoring role and what they saw as the benefits for the parent. Data analysis. Data were organized by responses to open-ended questions for the parent and the mentor group. Parents and their mentors were grouped to allow for comparisons between members of the dyad. The analysis was exploratory and used an ongoing recursive process of developing codes, hypotheses and seeing how they fit the data. Categories which emerged were labeled and reassessed to compare the properties and clarify the relationship of the properties to the categories. Results. Preliminary analyses indicate high agreement between parents and mentors on the content and the benefits of the mentoring relationship. Mothers expressed concern that foster placement could jeopardize the parent/child bond. They worried about the treatment their children were receiving in care and were saddened by the fact that they were missing important developmental milestones. Mothers identified a number of ways in which their mentors provided concrete help and assistance. They also described behavioral changes and personal growth that improved their capacity to parent and contributed to reunification.

Conclusions and implications. The results suggest that supportive relationships enhance maternal functioning and parenting and create conditions conducive to reunification. Relational models that address the felt needs and goals of mothers are an important component of child welfare services.