Young People's Experiences of Foster Placement Breakdown: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

While there is an expanding body of international literature on the phenomenon of foster care placement breakdown, and its associations with poorer outcomes for children, there is little is known, in Ireland nor internationally, about the nature of the move experience for those closely involved in it. By means of six in-depth qualitative interviews with young people who grew up in state care, this study sought to redress the gaps in Irish literature, and build upon the limited international research which explores young peoples’ experiences of placement breakdown. The highly personalised narratives highlighted that placement breakdown has a lasting and deleterious impact, and was characterised as a time of multiple losses. Young people experienced a particularly disenfranchised and disempowered position during placement disruption, with very little knowledge of, or involvement in, decisions that govern their lives. Along with explanations of the immediate precursor to placement breakdown, a number of broader influences emerged as undermining placement stability, particularly young people’s connections to their birth families, and the relationships they developed with other children in the foster placement. Having young people as the only participants added a valuable dimension to the existing research knowledge and the findings raise real challenges for social work practice and service provision.