The main issues of supporting foster families

Abstract

Background. Every year in Russia, more and more orphans are being raised in foster families, this actualizes the need to develop and improve the system of their support in order to successfully socialize adopted children and prevent secondary orphanhood. The purpose of the study is to study issues in the system of social support for foster families (by the example of Rostov region) that affect the effectiveness of substitute care, as well as to develop proposals for the prevention of secondary orphanhood in the system of social sup-port. Materials and methods. The work used structural-functional and system-ecological approaches. The study was carried out in February – May 2023 using a telephone survey of foster parents living in Rostov region. Results. The article analyzes modern challenges and resource opportunities for social support of foster families. Problematic aspects are revealed through the system of relations of the foster family: with society, the state, educational in-stitutions; with the primary environment, social support services and guardianship authori-ties, as well as through intrafamily relationships. The issues of stereotyping and stigmatiza-tion of adopted children and foster parents are highlighted, and objective and subjective difficulties that arise in the process of social support are analyzed. Conclusions. The study examined the main issues in the system of social support for foster families in Rostov re-gion, which are directly related to the specifics and context of the relationships that have developed in the institution of foster families; they determine the resource capacity of the family and the intensity of support activities. It has been empirically proven that the pres-ence of problems in the life of foster families and the growth of secondary orphanhood are determined by the unpreparedness of foster parents to integrate support service specialists into the family and organizational problems of the social support system. The study pre-sents recommendations for improving the system of social support for foster families, al-lowing to minimize risks and problems at the preventive level.

Keywords

• substitute family
• orphans and children left without parental care
• guardians
• trustees
• foster children
• foster parents
• secondary orphanhood
• support of substitute fami-lies