Need for Foster Homes, Foster Parent Recruitment, and Licensure: Comparing Foster Parent and Child Welfare Worker Perspectives

Abstract

Unfortunately, the retention rate of foster parents is low, and multiple challenges exist for agencies in maintaining long-term foster parents. Research examining perceptions of recruiting and licensing foster parents may provide some insight into supporting future foster parent recruitment and training for child welfare professionals. This study utilized administrative data from the state of Florida to examine and compare the perspectives of foster parents and child welfare workers regarding the recruitment and licensing of foster homes. This cross-sectional administrative survey included a total of 1,249 foster parents and child welfare workers in the state of Florida. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to examine the perspectives of foster parents and child welfare workers across multiple questions related to the need for foster homes and recruitment and licensing processes. Results indicate that caseworkers and foster parents in this sample generally held different perspectives across most of the questions related to the need for foster homes, recruitment and licensing practices. Implications for recruiting and licensing foster homes and the need for consistent and accurate messaging to both foster parents and child welfare workers are discussed. More research is needed to explore recruitment and licensing processes, particularly research-supported strategies that have not been well-tested among foster care samples.