'Adoption & Fostering' journal: March issue (Vol 49 Issue 1) now available!
‘How diverse are UK foster care research and practice?’ Editor-in-Chief Dennis Golm poses this question in his editorial for the March edition (Volume 49 Issue 1) ofAdoption & Fostering. The answer? There is more work to be done. This issue addresses how both research and practice can become more inclusive and supportive of all those affected by the care system.
CAPTION: Number of foster care households and ethnicity of foster carers and children under their care. (a) Number of fostering households and children in foster care during the last four years and (b) Ethnicity of children in care in England (in percent). Courtesy of Dennis Golm.
While awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusivity is growing, this does not necessarily translate to meaningful action or change, as the first two articles in this edition demonstrate.
Rachael Stemp and her colleagues reviewed the demographic characteristics reported in 82 published articles. They found that reporting was inconsistent and that the research was not representative of the foster carer population. In other words, not enough attention is being paid to the diversity of research samples.
Peter Unwin and his colleagues’ article presents a project co-produced with Disabled people, which delivered training to fostering organisations to enhance their understanding of disability and the Equality Act 2010. They make six key recommendations for promoting the valuable contribution Disabled people can make as foster carers in policy and practice, calling for greater inclusivity in recruitment processes.
The remaining articles in the issue provide a broad spectrum of perspectives from those involved in and affected by foster care: birth parents, foster carers, social work professionals and care-experienced young adults.
Sandra Melander and her colleagues delivered an intervention to women with intellectual and developmental disabilities whose children have been taken into care in Sweden. They found significant benefits for the mothers in coming to terms with their loss.
Lisa Coe and her colleagues interviewed foster carers about navigating the life stories of the children in their care. Their article underlines the importance of support for a complex role – a message that also strongly emerges from The Fostering Network’s recent State of the Nations’ Foster Care Survey report (2024).
Evelina Fridell Lif’s article looks at the motivations for contracting independent agencies to recruit foster carers in Sweden. While in-house services were preferred by professionals, the agencies met important resourcing needs especially for complex cases.
Finally, Elli-Maria Kamula and her colleagues’ article demonstrates the strategies used by care-experienced young people in Finland to develop agency and resilience from school age into adulthood.
As always, the issue also contains legal notes outlining recent notable cases in the courts of Northern Ireland and Scotland, including £100,000 of compensation granted to a prospective single adopter. She claimed that she was provided with inadequate information and support by the local authority for a child with complex needs and had been dealing with the guilt and trauma of the adoption breaking down.
Approaches to practice that truly enact inclusivity and promote diversity are essential both for children and those who care for them, and so is the support offered to all those involved in the system. This issue of Adoption & Fostering, and the journal more broadly, show that while research informs practice, it must also strive to reflect it.
Vicky Walker, Journal Production Editor, CoramBAAF.