An Exploratory Study on Decisions among Foster Parents to Continue Foster Care : The Case of 'H' Foster Care Agency

The purpose of the study was to explore what kind of intervention might help foster parents decide to continue engaging in foster care. As foster care services are still in the early stages of development, lacking systematic support systems as well as full understanding of the roles of foster parents and foster care agencies, it is important to recruit, select, and train as many foster parents as possible. Utilizing the Foster Parent Role Perception scale developed by Le Prohn, the author first conceptualized foster parent roles or foster care agency roles; then explored what kind of effects the resource level or the role perception of the foster parents have on the decisions to continue doing foster care. The results showed that the foster parents perceived 'supporting the internal system of the foster child' and 'supporting the external system of the foster child' as the roles of foster parents, whereas 'fortifying the foster care system' and 'maintaining liaison with birth parents' were the roles of foster care agencies. It was also found that foster parents' strong role perception, higher levels of satisfaction towards education on the part of foster parents, and the number of children from the previous marriage had statistically significant positive effects on the decisions to continue foster care. The author argues that clear definitions of roles are needed for both foster parents and foster care agencies. Finally, the role of foster care agencies needs to be strengthened and supported.