Examining Foster Care under the Care Reform Initiative: Experiences of Implementers and Foster Parents in Accra

Abstract

This study adopted a case study approach to investigate the foster care component of the Care Reform Initiative (CRI) of the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP, Ghana) from the perspectives of both programme implementers and foster parents. Serious attention was given to efforts made to ensure the availability of a pool of family-based foster parents for the programme in Accra and experiences associated with it. The topic was seen to be relevant considering the current global policy direction of encouraging home-based care for children in need of alternative care as against the Residential Facilities for Children (RCF) as the first option of care. A qualitative method was adopted to gather data through an in-depth interview with 25 purposively selected respondents comprising fifteen (15) foster parents and ten (10) programme implementers from the DSW and Bethany Christian services. Data was analysed by thematic analysis (Attride-Sterling, 2001). The data was analysed using variables borrowed from the systems theory. The findings unearthed the multi-dimensional experiences of both implementers and foster parents, including recruitment and retention issues, which has a bearing on the availability of foster parents and the sustainability of the programme. As part of the recommendations some suggestions were provided to ensure sustainability of the programme.