PR1- focus groups experience - Italy & Greece

Image from the focus group in Italy

The first result of the Creating Care project consisted in the creation of a Tool for Understanding Professionals’ Perceptions and Experiences in terms of recruitment and communication with foster families.
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To properly design it, the partnership has conducted several focus groups to screen professionals' needs in terms of recruitment and communication with foster families as well as their experiences, practices and concerns about the topic of foster care and unaccompanied children in Europe. 

​We invite you to read and delve into some of the findings of these focus groups.

Italy

The focus group was organised with social workers and professionals from the Municipality of Cerignola, the largest city relative to the area where we work and operate as San Giuseppe ONLUS.

All 7 participants work in the Municipality of Cerignola as social workers with experience in the foster care field. In particular, one is responsible for the Foster care office and directly connects with family fostering. However, none of them has ever had experience with foster families because of the local context in which they operate. 

Obstacles professionals in the foster care system and foster parents and children face​

An initial discussion revealed that the issue of foster care in the Cerignola area is not widely felt. Some time ago, social workers had done outreach with schools, and parishes but did not get the feedback they had hoped for; on the contrary, many people were reluctant to take responsibility for foster children.

The biggest obstacle is if the children are from Cerignola because it is absolutely essential to maintain contact with the family, but this is also very challenging. From this context, the participants said that there is, in fact, no family that has taken on foster care of a minor. However, the model used by the municipality of Cerignola leans toward fostering minors with a close family network (grandparents or aunts and uncles). 

Currently, the municipality handles the case of three minors entrusted to the maternal grandmother, since the parents have not been recognized as suitable to take care of them (because parental capacity has been lost). 

In the specific case of custody of grandparents, it emerged that the main obstacle is the generation gap, as children or teenagers are forced to live with elderly people. This complicates the management and the relational approach.

Key elements/factors leading a successful foster care system

According to our professionals, the winning elements for having a good foster care experience are certainly the awareness that undoubtedly leads to an increase in the number of foster families (which, as we have said, in the municipality of Cerignola and neighbouring countries is zero) and the right training.

It is a training that must involve not only professionals and operators in terms of content and approach with families and foster children but also the families themselves, on how to behave with the children they have in foster care.
Training, therefore, becomes essential because foster care is not a process that can be improvised. Also, another element of success is building a good network that works together and goes in the same direction effectively.

Image from the focus group in Greece

Greece

The focus group conducted in Greece had 4 participants, three psychologists and a social worker. 

Main obstacles

Considering the obstacles they face working in foster system, the majority of the participants highlighted the delays in the procedures due to officialism and bureaucracy.

According to a social worker: “We meet families ready for the next step and red tape ruins the process. It is exhausting”.

Moreover, they claimed that the lack of specifically trained staff and the absence of an adequate number of professionals involved in this field, make the realization of their duties harder. Taking into account that there is a significant part of people who are willing to become foster parents, but they don’t satisfy the requirements, three out of four interviewees focused on the psychological and emotional impact of this cancellation: “The couple was so excited. It was heartbreaking even to us to cancel the process due to the woman’s minor health problems”. 

Key elements/factors leading a successful foster care system

​Considering the factors which would facilitate a successful foster care system, three out of four interviewees focused on the professionals’ specialized training and familiarization with the appropriate practices and procedures.

All of them also mentioned that confined bureaucracy would advance the foster system, as typical processes wouldn’t require so much time. Foster parents and child’s psychological support before and during foster care was also suggested from a psychologist and a social worker: “Acclimation is a difficult procedure. Both parents and children need support”.

Also, an adequate investigation of foster parents’ psycho-social status was proposed from the majority of the participants in order to ensure stable living conditions and arrangements. Finally, general information about the child’s history and background was assessed as really helpful, as foster parents’ approaches would be adjusted to individualized child’s needs. According to a social worker: “You need to know whether the child has different culture or religion from you before approaching it. Some approaches could be misinterpreted when differences in religion occur”.

Find out more about the first result