The Impact of Formal and Informal Respite Care on Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Parents Caring for Children Involved in
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The Impact of Formal and Informal Respite Care on Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Parents Caring for Children Involved in the Child Welfare System Elissa E. Madden1 • Amy Chanmugam2 • Ruth G. McRoy3 • Laura Kaufman4 Susan Ayers-Lopez4 • Mary Boo5 • Kathleen J. Ledesma6
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Published online: 23 May 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract This paper reports the results of a quantitative 42-item survey that explored foster, adoptive, and kinship parents’ (N = 160) utilization of different types of respite services (formal, informal, and a mixture of formal and informal), as well as their impressions of the impact of respite care on aspects of their lives related to family cohesion and stability, caring for their children, and their personal wellbeing. An exploratory cross-sectional, survey design was used to assess both the formal and informal respite care experiences of the foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers. Two-tailed Fisher’s exact tests were used to examine the relationship between the type of respite received and caregivers’ respite experiences. Findings indicated that parent experiences differed depending on the type of respite services they received. Specifically, parents who used a mixture of formal and informal respite reported positive experiences related to respite more frequently than the other two types of respite groups, while those who received only informal respite reported less benefit than others. Parents who used formal respite (either alone or mixed with informal respite) reported greater stress reduction. The greatest increase in family stability was
& Susan Ayers-Lopez [email protected] 1
Baylor University, Waco, USA
2
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
3
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, USA
4
School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, 1925 San Jacinto Blvd. D3500, Austin, TX 78212-0358, USA
5
North American Council on Adoptable Children, St Paul, USA
6
AdoptUSKids, Linthicum, USA
reported by parents who received a mix of informal and formal respite. While this study revealed clear benefits for families to using both informal and formal respite services, the findings suggest that formal respite care was helpful to parents regardless of whether used alone or in combination with informal care. Keywords Respite care Foster care Adoption Kinship Support
Introduction During the last decade, increased efforts have been made by state and federal agencies to decrease the number of children in the U.S. foster care system. Between 2004 and 2014, the number of children in foster care has declined 20 %, from 517,000 to 415,129 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006, 2015). Studies examining the post-placement needs of families caring for children involved with the child welfare system have identified respite care as an essential component of the support service continuum that should be made available to families to help improve the success and longevity of placements (Marcenko & Smith, 1991; McRoy, 2007; Reilly
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