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Related Foster Parents Less Likely To Receive Support Services Compared With Nonrelative Foster Parents, Wendy A. Walsh, Marybeth J. Mattingly

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief identifies gaps in support services among foster parents using data from a nationally representative survey of children involved in the child welfare system (the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being). Authors Wendy Walsh and Marybeth Mattingly report that the percentage of foster parents who received recent support services (within a six month timeframe) varies dramatically by foster placement and support service type. Kinship foster parents (both formal and informal) in all households regardless of poverty status are less likely to have received training, used respite care, or participated in peer support groups in the past six …