Creating a professional foster family environment

Abstract

This article describes fundamental issues regarding professional foster families, including but not limited to: the characteristic of professional foster families, the definition of a foster family, their types, goals and functions, conditions that aspiring professional foster families need to meet as well as their rights and responsibilities. We describe the types of help that can be provided for the foster children, and also the differences between the professional foster family and adoptive family. The article contains information, that can serve as a set of guidelines for future professional foster parents and describes the types of help available to the foster children.

Professional foster families should be recognized for the important role that they play in our society. There’s still a lot of children without families, and family is an essential component of proper child development. Kinship care can’t always provide a new environment for the children, which can result in their frequent contacts with biological parents and – in turn – improper care. This can expose the children to harmful patterns and unnecessary suffering. The main goal of this article was to gather all the essential information regarding professional foster families for the future foster parent candidates, as well as providing a source of information about the help available for the foster children.