Foster care breakdown in adolescence: A retrospective view of young individuals on their experiences

Summary Placement with a foster family is one of the care arrangements available for children who cannot live at home. Many of those in foster care are teenagers. The complexity of the development during adolescence poses major challenges and may ultimately lead to what is known in the literature as “foster breakdown.” Most of the research in this area focuses on the point of view of social workers or foster parents. The current study examines this experience through a retrospective view of those who were teenagers at the time of foster care breakdown. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Israeli young individuals (16–30 years old) who had experienced foster breakdown at various stages of adolescence. Findings The findings paint a complex and multidimensional picture of breakdown. While most of the interviewees described it as a sudden, unexpected event, closer examination revealed a dynamic process of collapse. This process comprised various factors, including those associated with the welfare system, the foster family, and characteristics related to the developmental stage of adolescence of the research participants. The combination of these factors led to the premature termination of the foster arrangement. Applications This study opens a window to the complex experience of foster breakdown in adolescence, an issue that has received very little research attention thus far. Understanding the dynamics of foster breakdown from the perspective of young individuals can improve professional foster care practices and policy and can benefit social workers in their work with foster families.