Pr2 - Focus group experience in Austria, france and czech republic

​In addition to the first project outcome, the second project result of the Creating Care project is the development of a tool for analysing foster families' needs, perspectives, and experiences. With that in mind, we'd like to share some of the findings from the partners' focus groups with families and children.  

Austria

In Austria, the interviews were conducted with individual families and children. The qualitative survey methods and the questions envisaged in the project were adapted to practice. 

What kind of obstacles do you face after becoming a foster family?
Most of the families with whom interviews were held stated that they had had problems with the families of origin. There were many difficult situations that the foster families were confronted with and had to deal with, but were often not so easy.
The interviews showed that most foster parents were afraid that the children might return  to the family of origin at some point. This thought is very stressful for many families, even if the probability of a return is low.

What are the benefits of being a foster family?
In most interviews, the benefits mentioned are the children's bonds with the foster parents. Experiencing this process is emphasized as positive. The foster mother K. comments on this: "No matter whether bodily, adopted or in foster care - when you see a child for the first time, you know: we are now the world for this child. And it ours."

FRANCE

In France, the focus groups were carried out with two foster families.  The process of finding foster families who receive unaccompanied minors was not easy. In general, in France, young unaccompanied minors do not live with host families, whether they are volunteers or work for the department; this is rare and often informal. 

What kind of obstacles do you face after becoming a foster family ?

Family 1 : “It is always quite difficult when the path is not a long one after 18 years (no recognition, no residence title...). Difficulties also when a young person comes from a "rich" family and feels superior to others.

Family 2 : “The lack of availability because I work and take into account the other members of the family”

What are the benefits of being a foster family ?

Family 1 : “To have an open mind, to exchange on different values, customs from one country to another... It's very enriching !”

Family 2 : “Meetings, cultural exchanges, becoming a reference point for the rest of their journey...”

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic the discussions with foster families revealed that there are pleanty of obstacles professionals in the foster care system and foster parents and children face. Among them we mention: 

• too much unnecessary bureaucracy
• the difficulty of understanding the legislative system and how foster care works. The responsibilities of foster parents are clear, but their rights are unclear
• inconsistency of information at the different offices (it depends on the people who give the information)
• lack of interest of the authorities in the problems of foster families, the offices tries to get rid of difficult cases and not deal with them 
• insufficient quality of judges in the area of family law
• withholding information about the child taken in care
• non-partnered approach - foster carers who had applied to be foster parents themselves did not receive information about how the process works. They went from office to office and waited for someone to get back to them without any information of what is happening
• a child from abroad who did not have all the necessary documents had to wait for a long time for the authorities to take action. In the meantime, the child needed medical assistance, which he could not receive because he did not have the necessary documents

In terms of good practices and methods that they (professional working on foster care field) are using in foster care system, foster parents talked about the needs of the child. Every child is specific and it is necessary to pay attention to the child’s needs and to act accordingly. In order to raise children well, foster parents need knowledge of various fields, such as psychology, psychiatry, they need to know the traumas the child has gone through and how to deal with them. The support of foster parents is also essential at this point.