Summary

More than 50% of children who depart foster care will experience a permanency placement after being involved in the child welfare system. The struggles faced by children and families during the transition into the home and community setting following foster care are well-known and often result in child welfare re-entry. Presently, little is known about preparation for permanency placements or appropriate supports to aide in this critical transition period. This includes understanding the perspectives of key stakeholders such as foster parents, who are essential to the transition. This descriptive study begins to address this need by examining the perspectives of foster parents (N = 60) on: (a) transition planning, (b) the importance of specific supports and services critical during to transition period, and (c) availability of supports during the transition period.

Findings

Results indicate that the most frequently addressed areas during transition planning process were family, medical/physical health, and education. Participants rated mental health and safety as the most important supports for youth. Most respondents indicated being unsure about the availability of nearly all supports. However, of those reported as available, safety and mental health supports were identified most often.

Application

Findings have practical application for service provision and transition planning for youth and their families departing foster care to permanency placements. Specifically, a continued focus on mental health and an increase in educational supports during the transition process. These are discussed in depth as well as implications for practice. Limitations and future research are also presented.

中文翻译：

---

培养父母对离开寄养机构的青年及其家人必要支持的看法

概括

超过 50% 的离开寄养的儿童在参与儿童福利系统后将经历永久性安置。儿童和家庭在接受寄养后过渡到家庭和社区环境期间所面临的挣扎是众所周知的，并且经常导致儿童福利重新进入。目前，关于准备永久安置或适当支持以帮助这个关键过渡时期的情况知之甚少。这包括了解关键利益相关者的观点，例如对过渡至关重要的养父母。这项描述性研究开始通过检查养父母（N = 60）在以下方面的观点来解决这一需求：（a）过渡计划，（b）在过渡期间至关重要的特定支持和服务的重要性，

发现

结果表明，过渡规划过程中最常涉及的领域是家庭、医疗/身体健康和教育。参与者将心理健康和安全评为对青年最重要的支持。大多数受访者表示不确定几乎所有支持的可用性。然而，在报告为可用的那些支持中，最常见的是确定安全和心理健康支持。

应用

调查结果对从寄养到永久安置的青年及其家庭的服务提供和过渡规划具有实际应用。具体而言，在过渡过程中继续关注心理健康并增加教育支持。这些都被深入讨论以及对实践的影响。还介绍了局限性和未来的研究。