Foster homes successes low

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 9

Foster homes successes low

PA Wellington Only about one-third of the placements of children in private foster homes are successful. a Social Welfare Department research paper has found. Almost half of the placements broke down because the child proved to. be unmanageable or the foster parents were unwilling or unable to look after the child, or a combination of both. Sixteen per cent of placements ended early because of factors such as illness or death or the foster parents’ moving. The average time spent by a child in a long-term foster home was 13 months, said the paper, which arose froma five-year departmental study of the case histories of 654 children. The Director-General of Social Welfare. Mr S. J. Callahan, said that the manybreakdowns' in foster placements outlined by the survey was of much concern to the department. ‘■ln the middle of last year the department introduced a hew programme throughout New Zealand which ensures that all children now coming into care have definite plans drawn up for them in consultation with the children, if they are old enough, their natural parents, and foster parents." The department was stepping up recruiting to attract more couples into fostering. This would mean a better matching of a child with suitable foster parents, he said. Each year in New Zealand about 1000 children are taken from their families by the courts and put in the care of the department. At any time the department is guardian of almost 7000 children from toddlers to teen-agers. The paper showed that half of the children were part-Maori or full Maori, and 39 per cent were full European. All but 10 per cent

came from cities or towns. Common among these children was an instable home — two-thirds of the families had money problems and about one-third were poorly housed. Forty per cent of the fathers and a quarter of the mothers were heavy drinkers. and in 45 per cent of the families there was marital disharmony. Fourteen per cent of the fathers and 9 per cent of the mothers had physically abused the children and in 40 per cent of the cases had left them without adequate supervision. Half the children were taken into care mainly because of inadequate conditions in their homes; 30 per cent because of offending; and 20 per cent because of behaviour difficulties. The first placement for most children is usually short-term for assessment. Subsequent longer-term placements are in a departmental institution, family home (which caters for a group of children), or a private foster home. The report showed that after five years 46 per cent

of the children were still in the care of the department.

Tne rest had been ■ discharged. Of those, 37 per cent were in the custody or under the supervision of the Justice Department. The Foster Care Association said that the report was “an honest picture of a totally unsatisfactory situation."

The association's chairman, Mrs Bobby Duncan, said the community "cannot escape responsibility for the instability and insecurity that are facts of life for these children and young people. The cost of neglecting children now will be met in providing welfare services and penal institutions for them later.”

The department was trying to improve the quality of its work with children in care but the association believed that this effort would be wasted unless the community and Government recognised that more resources were needed.

“New Zealanders have to put more money and effort

into improving the lot of children in care," she said. Foster children’s problems could not be solved simply by transfer to a "good, wholesome family.”

“Foster parents need preparation and training, plenty of information, and a high level of support from the community if they are to succeed in rehabilitating these children.”