Role Perception in Therapeutic Foster Parents

Background and Purpose: Therapeutic foster care (TFC) is a placement option for children in foster care who have needs that cannot be met in a traditional foster home setting. Given the complex nature of TFC, it may be important to consider therapeutic foster parents’ perception of their role and how that could influence proximal outcomes related to retention. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1) Which individual and fostering characteristics are significantly associated with a therapeutic foster parent’s role perception? 2) Is there a significant association between how a therapeutic foster parent views their role and their experience of role ambiguity? And 3) How do therapeutic foster parents view their role, and how does it impact their experience as a therapeutic foster parent?

Methods: This cross-sectional, mixed methods study recruited foster parents from 6 agencies. The study sample consisted of therapeutic foster parents who completed surveys (N = 132) and qualitative interviews (N = 20). Survey participants were between the ages of 26 and 72, with a mean age of 48 years old, White (n = 71, 54%), and non-Hispanic (n = 125, 95%). A majority of participants self-identified as women (n = 104, 79%) and 65% (n = 86) were married. Participants indicated fostering, on average, 7.5 years (SD= 7.1) and 74% (n = 97) reported fostering primarily children with behavioral health needs. Associations between role perception and foster parent characteristics were assessed using bivariate analyses and hierarchical linear regression. Qualitative data was analyzed from a phenomenological approach using inductive coding.

Results: Participant responses to the role perception continuum were skewed toward the treatment professional end. Bivariate analyses showed statistically significant results between role perception and age (r = 0.29, p <.001) race (p < .001), and length of fostering (r = 0.35, p <.001). Results of the hierarchical linear regression found that Black foster parents viewed themselves closer to the treatment professional end of the continuum compared to white foster parents (B = 0.58, p = .016) in the first model (R² = 0.16, p = .002, f² = 0.19). In the second model, as length of fostering experience increased, foster parents’ role perception moved closer to the treatment professional end of the continuum (B = −1.20, p = .001; ∆R² = 0.05, p = .001, f² = 0.25). Qualitative data suggests that role is based primarily on child need and an individual’s experiences and role perception shifts over time.

Conclusions and Implications: Study findings provide evidence that can be used to inform best practices and program improvement efforts aimed at enhancing the experience of therapeutic foster parents. Specifically, this study indicates the potential need to amend TFC recruitment materials, pre-service, and the home study process to include considerations of an individual’s role perception. Study findings also underscore the need to further explore the concept of role ambiguity, along with other components of role theory, to advance the development of frameworks that can enhance our understanding of the factors influencing the foster parent experience.