Kinship Foster Care: Protection or Risk?

The data reported in this article by Jesús Palacios and Jesús M Jiménez come from a study of foster care in Andalusia, southern Spain. In Andalusia, as in the rest of Spain, kinship care is far more frequent than non-relative foster care. The authors explore the differences between these two types of foster care arrangement in a number of areas: socio-demographic profiles; children's stimulation and patterns of rearing; stress, informal support and needs; formal support and relationships with child protection services; evaluation of the experiences of carers; contact between birth parents and children; and foster children's development and behavioural difficulties. Although, compared with non-relative care, there are some clear advantages to kinship foster care (eg placement at an early age and fewer transitions), there are also a number of risk factors in all areas studied that must be considered to avoid what should be a protective placement becoming a risk situation for both carers and children.