Stay Just a Little Bit Longer: A Scoping Review of Foster Parent Engagement in the U.S

Background/Purpose: Foster parents play an important role in the lives of foster care youth. They not only ensure the safety and well-being for the majority of those entering foster care but also provide stability for children experiencing abuse and neglect. Despite the growing need for quality foster homes, engaging foster parents continues to be a challenge. To synthesize what is known about foster parent engagement in the United States, this scoping review described the modifiable factors impacting foster parent satisfaction, commitment, and retention.

Methods: This scoping review comprehensively explored the literature by mapping out the extent, range, and nature of foster parent engagement in the United States, screening studies based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and summarizing findings. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they examined modifiable provider and organizational-level factors impacting foster parent engagement (e.g., satisfaction, commitment, and retention). Modifiable factors were defined as elements that could be addressed through an agency-level intervention, such as concrete resources or support services. Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria.

Results: Three themes emerged as factors impacting foster parent engagement: (1) training, (2) resources, and (3) relationships. Eight studies evaluated unspecified training and three studies examined evidenced-informed training interventions. Resources were explored in ten studies and included concrete resources such as respite care, financial assistance, and transportation. Relationships, categorized as professional social support (n=15) and personal social support (n=16), were also studied. Study findings suggest foster parents need multiple types of social support from personal, peer, and professional sources, and receiving these supports can enhance the foster parent experience. Study findings also highlight the importance of relationship building across foster care stakeholders. Specifically, strengthened relationships between foster parents and caseworkers improved outcomes across all components of foster care engagement (satisfaction, commitment, and retention).

Conclusion and Implications: The outcomes-focused approach of this scoping review provides a new perspective on the modifiable factors that can enhance the foster parent experience. Understanding the effectiveness of specialized trainings, concrete resources, and various types of social support may help address the unique needs of foster parents. The results do not specify which needs should be prioritized and for which foster parents. Therefore, more research is needed on the implementation of engagement strategies that are more holistic, yet targeted.