Positive parenting support programme for birth and foster families in foster care

Abstract

This study examines the social support perceived by parents and foster carers who participated in the pilot implementation of a psychoeducational programme to improve the quality of contact visits that take place during foster care between foster children and their relatives. Qualitative research was carried out through semi-structured interviews with the 3 mothers and 6 foster carers who completed the programme. The cases correspond to permanent foster care with contact visits with or without supervision of children between 5 and 12 years old. From a functional perspective of the study of social support, the triangulation of the voices allowed us to identify that both families perceived that their participation through the programme was a source of emotional, informational and instrumental support. Likewise, they perceived its usefulness for other biological and foster families involved in foster care with contact visits. These findings indicate that the psychoeducational programme ‘Visits: A context for family development’ is a useful resource for the promotion of positive parenting in biological and foster families involved in long-term foster care process with contact visits.