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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on August 15, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(4):541-559; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch270
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Contact with Family Members and its Impact on Adolescents and Their Foster Placements

Sue Moyers

Sue Moyers is a Research Associate in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. She assisted in the development of the Looking After Children material and is currently undertaking research with Elaine Farmer on kinship care.

Elaine Farmer

Elaine Farmer is Professor of Child and Family Studies and Director of the Centre for Family Policy and Child Welfare in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol.

Jo Lipscombe

Jo Lipscombe was a Research Associate in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. She recently completed a doctorate on Remand Foster Care and now works for Crime Concern.

Correspondence to: Elaine Farmer, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK. E-mail: e.r.farmer{at}bristol.ac.uk

This paper discusses findings from a recently completed study of adolescent foster care, which included a detailed assessment of the fostering skills and supports of carers and of the contact that adolescents had with parents, siblings and other family members during a long-term foster placement. Sixty-eight foster carers, young people and their social workers were interviewed at two points in time, 3 months after the start of a new foster placement and again at 12 months or at the point of disruption if this occurred earlier. Detailed questions about contact which were asked of foster carers, young people and their social workers enabled the researchers to make summary ratings about the quantity and the quality of contact and its effect on the young people and on their placements. This paper describes the contact the young people had with their families, its impact on them and on the foster families and how it changed over time. The findings revealed that contact for the majority of adolescents was problematic and had a significant impact on placement outcomes. Ways of managing contact are highlighted, and the corresponding implications for policy and practice discussed.

Keywords: Contact, foster care, foster care for adolescents, young people, placement outcomes


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