A Review of Factors Associated with Placement Breakdown in Foster Care and an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Foster Carers Lived Experience of Blocked Care

Paper one presents a systematic literature review of nine studies, which investigated factors associated with or predictive of foster care placement breakdown (PB). These studies were critically appraised and a narrative synthesis of the findings was then completed. Percentage quality appraisal scores ranged from 33% to 73%, which has implications for confidence in the conclusions drawn. Factors associated with or predictive of PB were older child age, previous experience of PB or placement movement and contact or conflict with the biological family. There is a need for future research to be more transparent in the reporting of methods and results. Contact with the biological family should be appropriately scaffolded by social care to reduce conflict. Care planning and placement matching implications are discussed.

Paper two presents an empirical paper which investigated foster carers lived experience of blocked care (BC) using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). BC describes instances in which caregivers find it difficult to provide the care that the child needs (Hughes, 2015). Foster carers are understood to be at increased risk of experiencing BC. There is no current research regarding foster carers experience of BC, which the present study aims to redress. Five themes were identified: “We didn’t understand”, ‘something took over me’, ‘neglected and “left to get on with it”’, ‘having a break’ and ‘now I get it’. Practice implications include further consideration of foster carer’s past experiences in the matching process and additional support early on in placement. Future research is required regarding foster children’s experience of BC and the development of reflective functioning, mentalisation and attunement over time.

Paper three presents an executive summary of the empirical paper. The executive summary was created to communicate key information about the study in a succinct and accessible manner.