An exploration of the motivations and barriers to being a foster parent in Florida

Abstract

Many states in the U.S. face increasing numbers of children in foster care, with high turnover and low foster parent retention rates. There is a large body of research that discusses the methods for successful foster parenting and effective foster parent retention; however, there is not much literature on perceived motivations and barriers to being a foster parent. This research adds to the literature by providing an understanding of why most families do not foster, as well as the average public knowledge and exposure to foster care issues. This study specifically identifies adult Floridian’s interest in being a foster parent, general knowledge level about fostering, exposure to fostering, and perceived motivations and barriers to fostering. The data collection was conducted using MTurk to recruit survey participants which gauged participants’ general knowledge about fostering, average exposure to fostering, and perceived motivations and barriers to fostering. Statistically significant relationships were identified between individual’s interest in fostering and respondent demographics, general knowledge, average exposure, and perceived motivations and barriers to fostering. Specifically, demographics including gender, religion, religiousness, marital status, children, and education each revealed statistically significant relationships between two or more indicators of average exposure to fostering. In addition, respondents; religious affiliations was associated with a higher self-perceived knowledge of foster care issues. These results can inform future research and guide targeted foster parent recruitment efforts that adapt education and recruitment to specific demographic characteristics. The researchers also recommend that future research explore treatments that may influence interest in fostering based on the general exposure, knowledge, motivations, and barriers identified.