Testing the limits of foster care

This study looks at a pioneering scheme - the Community Alternative Placement Scheme (CAPS) - set up by NCH Action for Children in Scotland to offer fostering placements for young people whose behaviour would place them beyond the limits of ‘normal’ foster care and who might otherwise be placed in secure care.

After considering developments and outcomes in specialist fostering schemes in the UK and USA, the book charts the development of CAPS and the progress of the first twenty youngsters placed within the scheme. It makes comparisons with a control sample of young people who remained in secure care and highlights the challenges for all those involved - the young people themselves, carers and project staff.

It poses some pertinent questions. Can foster care provide added value to those who would otherwise be in secure care? Can family placements be appropriate for young people with severe difficulties? What is distinctive about fostering and what can it offer alongside secure care and other services for challenging young people?

The findings are revealing and the experiences of the young people and their carers are tellingly described. While family placement is not suitable for all young people with serious emotional and behavioural difficulties, the CAPS scheme has shown that high quality foster care can allow many to remain in the community and help some to turn their lives around in a major way. It also highlights that residential provision remains the preferred option for some young people. A number made considerable progress in residential school, while in the short term, secure care could offer young people much needed safety, care and an opportunity to take stock of their lives. Ways in which foster care might complement other service provision are proposed.

This book will have considerable implications for the fostering service in the UK. Its insights will be invaluable for care workers, social workers and managers planning placements for children, those involved in the juvenile justice system, and foster carers themselves.

What you will find in this book

• Background and context
• Development of the scheme
• Creating a service
• Characteristics and circumstances of the young people in the study
• Needs and expectations
• Young people’s overall experiences and outcomes
• The young people’s developmental progress
• Stakeholders’ evaluation of CAPS
• Towards the limits of foster care?