Comfort Call Implementation in Florida: Perceptions of Foster Parents

Background: The relationship between a foster caregiver and parent can be rather complex, as children are frequently placed involuntarily in foster care. Nelson and Horstman (2017) highlighted the important role foster caregivers play in shaping the child’s experiences in foster care, particularly how caregivers frame or support the parents’ role and actions while in youth are in foster care. There has been increasing attention paid to the benefits of foster caregiver and parent interaction and relationships (Jones & Kruk, 2005; Linares et al. 2006), particularly as the relationship between these adults may impact the well-being of youth in out-of-home care situations (Linares et al., 2010). Researchers have noted the importance of the coparenting relationship and the need for open and welcoming communication between parents, birth families, and foster caregivers (Brown, 2008; Hedin, 2015). The goal of this research was to examine the perceptions of foster parents on the initial implementation of comfort call policy in the state of Florida.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional qualitative study of a sample of foster parents who participated in comfort calls in the state of Florida using focus groups (n = 10). The questions for this project were developed in conjunction with a group of multiple child welfare partners: a Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) representative, child welfare administrators, caseworkers, researchers/university employees, foster and birth parent representatives. The authors utilized deductive thematic analysis to identify key patterns or themes that were prevalent throughout the data related to: (a) experiences with early implementation and comfort calls; (b) barriers to successful comfort calls and implementation of comfort calls; (c) facilitators to successful comfort call and implementation of comfort calls; and (d) recommendations for improving or enhancing comfort call implementation or initial effectiveness.

Results: Three themes emerged when foster caregivers were asked to discuss their experiences and perceptions of comfort calls in their area or region: (1) initial feelings of reluctance despite support of coparenting with birth families; (2) experiencing and observing benefits of comfort calls; (3) suggestions and concerns related to comfort call implementation and policy. Caregivers reported that, overall, the comfort calls went very well, and their reflections were consistent with the purpose of the statute. However, there was a lot of variation in other aspects of the calls. In general, it appears that foster caregivers report calls as not organized and not standardized or being delivered with clear expectations.

Conclusions/Implications: The vast majority of participants were able to understand the importance of comfort calls and shared parenting, and a significant proportion described the need for the system to promote a consistent focus on the importance of shared parenting within the child welfare system. However, there was a concern that comfort calls represent a shift in culture. Although there is a shared passion for supporting children and families across all participants in this report, there are also a number of views, values, and assumptions expressed that may hinder relationship-building and coparenting among foster and birth parents.