“That's not fair on my kid”: Carers' perspectives on sport participation and experiences for children in out-of-home care

Abstract

Children in out-of-home care participate in less organised sport than children from other household structures, potentially reducing opportunities for improvements in social, developmental, and health outcomes. Despite this, little is known about barriers and facilitators of sport participation for children in care. We aimed to explore carers' perspectives on the influences on children in care's participation and experiences in organised sport. We interviewed 26 foster and kinship carers and analysed data through a reflexive thematic analysis approach. We identified five themes regarding participation and experiences in sport for children in care. Carers reported that (1) children in care's vulnerability, resulting from past traumatic experiences, left them feeling uncertain in their environment and ‘different’ to other children. Carers also described (2) the importance of their own values, and (3) the difficulties they face in navigating challenges related to out-of-home care. Finally, they discussed (4) how other people in sporting environments, and (5) overarching systems and entities, significantly impact children in care's participation and experiences in sport. Our study extends existing literature by amplifying the voices of foster and kinship carers to deepen our understanding of the influences most critical for children in care's participation and experiences in sport. Based on our findings, we encourage prioritisation of sport within policy impacting children in out-of-home care, and greater flexibility among sporting organisations to support children in care's needs. Further consideration of the interactions between intrapersonal, familial, and environmental factors influencing children in care's participation and experiences in sport is required.