There are a number of variants within foster care. The most important
ones are short-term foster care; long-term foster care, network foster
care (in the family’s social network or with relatives), part-time
foster care (weekend, vacation and daytime foster care) and immigrant
foster care.
Short-term foster care
Short-term foster care can be subdivided into three forms, namely:
crisis relief, guest addresses and observation addresses.
Crisis relief is given in a crisis situation. The placement of a child
then happens rather suddenly and without too much preparation and
requires a foster home to be able to respond easily to changes. Because
it is not always immediately clear what the best solution will be
for a child in the end, it will be a temporary placement. Children
aged from zero to fourteen years old are taken care of and looked
after in this way for a maximum of five months. During that time there
is close cooperation between the counsellors of the parents and the
counselling team of the foster parents to find out how to go on from
there.
Guest addresses offer care to youngsters of fourteen years and older
for a maximum period of six to eight weeks. This often concerns young
people who have run away from home or who cannot stay there any longer
because of tensions. Hospitality and a listening ear are important
for this kind of care.
At observation addresses care is offered to children up to eighteen
years of age who cannot live at home temporarily and where there are
questions about observation, treatment or the future.
During the three months care period, with a possible extension of
another three months, research is carried out into the existing problems,
the possibilities and development of the child (observation) or the
future (orientation).
Long-term foster care
When it is known beforehand that a child or youngster cannot live
at home for a longer period of time, a long-term foster home is looked
for. Long-term can, but does not have to be forever. There may come
a time when parents can take on their parenting task again. As long
as that is not the case, the youngster will stay in the foster home.
The parents will be involved with the child as far as is possible.
Network foster care
In about forty percent of all placements this concerns foster care
offered by family or acquaintances of the children. The children go
to live for a short or longer time with people who they already know.
That may be an advantage to them, but it can also cause difficult
situations because of a conflict of interest with regard to the parents
of the foster child.
For that reason the Foster Care Agencies offer network support courses.
Part-time foster care
This variant of foster care can be distinguished into weekend and
vacation foster care and, in some parts of the country, day foster
care. In the case of weekend and vacation foster care, the child who
is (as yet) at home, in a residential institution or another foster
home is given the opportunity to go and ‘stay the night’
now and again, in order to escape from everyday stresses.
For the (foster) parents it is also important sometimes to get some
rest and become re-energised in order to continue with the child’s
upbringing.
Immigrant foster care
The aim is that the aforementioned forms of foster care can be offered
to foster children within their cultural background.
When a Dutch family undertakes the care of Muslim children or other
immigrant children, significant differences are likely to exist in
manners, norms and values and the regulations of daily life. This
not only requires an enormous flexibility on the part of the children,
but can also lead to problems for the foster family itself or (after
replacement) the child’s own family.
