Foster Care in Five States: A Synthesis and Analysis of Studies From Arizona, California, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont,

Abstract

Foster Care in Five States is an important, stimulating, and provocative review of studies from Arizona, California, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Anyone concerned with optimal foster care or concerned with planning for the needs of dependent children should read this report. The seven major topics; foster care system, natural families, foster children, agency staffing and services, fiscal consideration, community involvement, and conclusion, are well outlined with excellent summary recommendations for improved services and for community involvement. Community pediatricians who are concerned with the general needs of children, child abuse problems, and foster care in the community can quickly become acquainted with the general needs and deficiencies of our current system of providing care for children. This report will identify and clarify the role of the community in participation in these needed problems. The inequities of local funding as well as the small pool of adequately trained social workers are clearly