Long-Term Foster Care

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Long-term foster care or adoption, which is better for the development of the child? This has often been a question on the minds of social workers, placement agencies, the government, and families alike. Yet, the issue thus far is still unresolved. Two articles used in this discussion have specifically looked into this issue and examined it using such theories as developmental theory, ecological and family stress theory. Some theories focus on the idea of resilience while others focus on implications to the family. Long-term foster care or adoption? The evidence examined by John Triseliotis (2002) focuses on the outcomes of adoption and long-term fostering using ideas present in multiple theories previously mentioned. Moreover, Risk and Resilience in Long-Term Foster Care by Schofield and Beek (2005) touches on, as suggested in the title, the idea of resilience in development, while referencing a psychosocial model and developmental theory. Given these factors, practitioners can reference these particular articles to inquire about the issue of long-term foster care and adoption. With current research, practitioners are able to look into this complex subject matter and analyze it in terms of both family and practitioner points of view. Triseliotis focuses on the adjustment of children to long-term foster care and adoption, and how adjustment of those same children can affect them into adulthood. This can be determined through measures of stability, affection, security, and other various factors. Since placement of a child in either long-term fostering or adoption is made with the expectation of lasting until the child reaches adulthood and beyond, some of these placements may be terminated prematurely, and are referred to as breakdowns’ (Triseliotis,2002). For this reason, Triseliotis discusses the issues of what are called ‘breakdown rates’. He compares

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