ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the purpose, goals, and scope of foster care. It provides the value and complexities of kinship care. Family foster care, a phenomenon with ancient origins, continues to affect the lives of millions of children, youths, and their families. The evolution of foster care as a temporary service, however, often occurred more at the policy and philosophical levels than in practice. The major functions of family foster care include emergency protection, crisis intervention, assessment and case planning, reunification, preparation for adoption, and preparation for independent living. While every discharge from care should be expected to be successful, a reunification program may not be giving any families the benefit of the doubt and only sending children home when there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the reunification will succeed. A competency-based or performance-based approach stresses the development of practice-based competences in the design, delivery, and evaluation of training in a specialized area of practice.
