Children and young people in placement with extended family

This is the first of two reports about placement with extended family. Together, these two reports make up sub-report 3 of a larger SFI assessment of the child placement reform. The first two sub-reports dealt with the schooling and health of children in placement as well as the preventive measures taken by municipalities with regard to vulnerable young people. The objective of this first sub-report on placement with extended family is to compare children and young people who have been placed with extended family with children and young people who have been placed with traditional foster families. Furthermore, the report also deals with family background and compares the two types of foster families.
Among other things the survey shows that children and young people are placed with extended family from their mother’s side more often than with family from their father’s side. Fifty per cent of the children and young people placed with extended family are placed with their grandparents, while a third are placed with their parents’ siblings. Children who have experienced a serious conflict or violence between their parents, or who have been mistreated or experienced gross neglect are more often placed in care in traditional foster families than with extended family. Furthermore placement with extended family is less commonly used for children and young people who are mentally retarded, have psychological problems, problems bonding with peers, problems at school and who have behavioural problems.
The survey also shows that 50 per cent of foster parents from within the extended family have not participated in any type of training course for foster parents. Even those extended-family foster parents who had received training had participated in considerably fewer courses than foster parents from traditional foster families. Furthermore foster parents from within the extended family receive less supervision and fewer supervisory visits.
The survey is based on questionnaires completed by 424 foster parents for children and young people between the ages of 4-23. This assessment of the placement reform has been funded by the Ministry of the Interior and Social Affairs.