Occupational Therapy’s Role in Supporting Children and Families in Foster Care: A Training Program for Caregivers and Providers

BACKGROUND. Children in foster care have been designated by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a population with special healthcare needs (Szilagyi et al., 2015). Caregivers and staff working in the foster care system need access to trauma-informed professionals and training that addresses the complex needs of children in care and the gaps in service provision (Deutsch & Fortin, 2015). Research has shown evidence that occupational therapists (OTs) are equipped to address the unique challenges of these families due to their clinical knowledge; however, many staff and caregivers are unaware of their expertise and the services they provide, thus calling attention to the need for education in this area (Armstrong-Heimsoth & Schoen, 2023; Lehr et al., 2023). OBJECTIVE. The aim of this project was to explore the role of occupational therapy in the foster care system through the development and evaluation of a training program to provide education for professionals and caregivers on how an OT can address the needs of children and families in care. ACOTE Area: Program Development and Evaluation. This project also provided opportunities for advocacy regarding promoting the occupational therapy profession in an emerging practice area and administrative efforts through the development of a business proposal exploring service delivery models in the foster care system. METHODS. This project followed the design of the Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate (ADDIE) model and was completed in partnership with Restoration Rome, an organization that connects families and children in foster care with essential services (Kurt, 2017; Restoration Rome, n.d.-a). The program included the development of a reference manual and a presentation that was shared in two training sessions. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling techniques and included adults over the age of 18 who serve as caregivers or staff associated with the organizations providing services at Restoration Rome. A total of 12 foster parents and 6 staff members attended the sessions. Measures were collected in three primary areas: self-efficacy of caregivers and staff, perceived stress of parents, and overall participant satisfaction after program completion, with pre- and post-test measures collected for self-efficacy and perceived stress. Two questionnaires were developed, the Caregiver/Parent Questionnaire and the Staff Questionnaire, in addition to the use of the Parental Stress Scale. Data underwent quantitative analysis using SPSS and Qualtrics to compile descriptive results and compare pre- and post-measures with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS. Overall, participants in the program reported low levels of perceived stress, and data obtained showed an increase in self-efficacy and high participant satisfaction after completing the program. CONCLUSION. The results gained suggest that the program and materials created can potentially serve as a valuable resource to support caregivers and providers involved in foster care as they learn about accessing supportive services, such as occupational therapy. OTs who acquire advanced training in trauma-informed care can play an important role within the foster care system; however, advocacy in this emerging practice area is still needed to promote awareness as OTs strive to fill the gap in service provision for this population.