When you think about the foster care system, you think about the kids. While the system is very obviously about the children, it is also very much about those who support the children: the foster parents. The retention of parents and foster families is a massive problem for the system. The turnover rate for foster care parents ranges from 30 to 50% each year, according to Foster Focus. This means almost half of all foster parents make the decision to no longer open their homes to a child in need. This fact combined with the increasing number of children entering the system, leaves a huge shortage of available homes for the children.

A big question is: why? Why are parents not staying in the system? Why are they choosing to drop out? The answers range based on the situation, but there is one constant. According to Foster Focus, 80% of foster parents who took place in a survey claimed they experienced feelings of grief and loss after a child from foster care transitioned out of their home. It is important to examine where these feelings come from and the underlying basis of these feelings of loss. For many foster parents, the sudden departure of a child can leave feelings of shock and may leave the family confused. They may feel angry or disappointed with the system especially if they feel removal of the child from their home or reunification with the birth family is not in the best interest of the child.

According to a study by Lois Urquhart, foster parents who are “’unprepared or unsupported for the separation and loss experience [are] considered foster parents at risk’ of leaving foster care.” Foster parents who feel unsupported by the system upon the departure of a child from their home are the most likely to be frustrated by the feelings of grief and loss. Only 33% of foster parents said they had enough training or support in the area of dealing with feelings of loss. This number is dramatically small especially when considering the emotional task foster care places on parents. It leaves many questions over what can be done to improve the system and keep foster parents going.

A big improvement has been seen in a campaign called CHAMPS. According to the Brookings Institution’s Center on Children and Families, it “helps states deliver better outcomes for children through improved foster parent recruitment and retention.” The CHAMPS campaign was introduced at a 2019 convention that focused on the best practices for dealing with common challenges in foster care and outlined the key drivers for better outcomes.   They key drivers were compiled and are as followed: child-centered, data-driven and informed by continuous quality improvement, governed by multi-level agency leadership, collaborative and transparent within the agency and with families, reflective of youth and parent voice and sustainable. The CHAMPS collaborative and comprehensive approach is aimed at achieving and sustaining recruitment and retention of foster parents with the idea that the best way to help the children in the system is to have parents who are enthusiastic and involved. The hope with the CHAMPS campaign is to inform state policy makers and influence change at a large level to improve the well being of both the children and parents in the system.