‘7‘ ‘ T17 V" w r-‘*‘\ H‘j\ J‘L...‘ ILLI:.J_J1__ ’LL) K] 1., I'LJ.L ‘ “ ‘ WY‘ '1‘ Y' -\ I: '.“‘T ' -‘ u . . l‘ ‘IA—L AI .L(‘; (IA-i .1— IJJI"L--1L" , ,-‘-‘I, ..J.'.L .4. {m g’n"r I . g T _ .L a d 1". TT 4 'J4J\)\)J‘ VA; | "V V . \j ’I‘JC " s m .m W 1‘»: 7‘ I..,.‘-i-J “11“.; K) L‘-4 AL‘ 10605! 6,124 OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per item RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place in book return to remove charge from circulation records - A4- we; - _-- _ ch- .——-—._< — - ——-———__ —___.~ ~ .- -————_.. AN ANALYSIS OF TflmlTY MICHIGAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE FOSTER HOMES RATED PARTICD RIRLY SUCCESS UL IN CARING FOR STATE uARDS - By. I Alice Christine Petersen A PROJECT REPORT Submitted to the Department of Social Work Michigan State College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK December 1954 Approved: 415.5 .-/. fl 51555,;- Chairman, RésearchfiCOmmfttee V flaw-7"»;- Kfikii 1’54 CL“ HEa a of De partmentiv "Each agency must realize that only by studying successful foster homes and those that fail can it learn how to predict the ability of new applicants to become foster parents." Gladys Denison Day in HOME FINDING: U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare iii ACKNOXLEDGEMENTS The writer Wishes to express her appreciation to Mr. Robert Rosema, Superintendent of the Richigan Children's Institute, for his permission of this study of Institute foster homes and for the use of agency records in such a project. The writer is particularly indebted to the Counsellors, Homefinders, and Supervisors of the Institute who gave generously of their time in the preparation of data. She also wishes to express her appreciation of the help given by Professor Gordon J. Aldridge in the organization and preparation of this study, by Professor Lucille K. Barber who as an Institute Supervisor made helpful suggestions as to the nature of the project and later as a member of the School faculty offered guidance in the study's organization, and by Mr. Manfred Lilliefors whose guidance in the preparation and handling of research data was invaluable. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER AOKNOULEDGEHINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . LISTOF'I‘ABIJBS........ CHAPTERS ’ I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . II. CURRENT OPINION ABOUT FOSTER HOMES . III. PROCEDURES EMPLOYED IN THIS STUDY . IV. FOSTER HOME FINDINGS . . . . . . . V. GENERALIZATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . APPENDIX 1) Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . 2) Copies of schedules used . . . . . 5) Charts 0 O O O O O I O O O O O O O 0 PAGE iii 22 56 49 59 61 64 LIST OF TABLES Table Page I Homes Under Study . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 II Time Known to Michigan Children's Institute . 36 III Age of Children Cared For . . . . . . . . 57 IV Length of Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . 57 V Length of Foster Care Experience . . . . 58 VI Approximate Total Number of Foster Children Cared For Per Family . . . . . . . . . . 58 VII Own Children In Relation To Foster Parenting. 40 VIII Incidence of Cederquist's Good Mother Attributes Among Twenty Selected Michigan Children's Institute Mothers . . . . . . 45 IX Needs Fulfilled By Foster Parenting . . . 45 INTRODUCTION This study looks at twenty Michigan Children's Institute foster homes which, in the judgment of that agency, have been particularly successful in caring for state children, with a view to discerning characteristics or patterns of attributes which may indicate a family's positive potenti- alities for foster parenthood. At the time of this study, the writer is employed as a homefinder for the Michigan Children's Institute, and has had ten years of child placement experience. Through expe- rience in the selection of foster homes, it has seemed to her that there may be characteristics, attributes, or patterns of both within families which, if identified, might indicate a family's potentialities for successful foster parenthood. Current literature indicates that our experience in the use of foster homes is now of sufficient duration that we may well look at what we have done with a view to determining what is good and what is bad. Considerable thought is being given to defining the make-up of successful foster homes. Are there specific and identifiable characteristics which appear to be responsible for a foster home's success? Do the same characteristics or attributes appear in most success- ful homes? If such is true, these identifiable character- istics or patterns would be a valuable tool in the specialized task of homefinding. This study, then, is geared to the question: Are there identifiable characteristics or attribute patterns which may indicate a family's potentialities for success- ful foster parenthood? The study is concerned with an analysis of twenty foSter homes currently in use by the Michigan Children's Institute, and adjudged by that agency to be particularly successful in caring for agency children. The homes studied are agency boarding homes. This means that such homes serve children who need temporary or long- time care. Legal guardianship of the children is retained by the agency, and the homes receive state financial reim- bursement for care given. Data for the study were obtained from agency foster home records and from interv1ews with agency homefinders and counselors regarding specific homes. The homes under study were not personally known to the researcher; nor had she any direct contact with them during the course of the study. CHAPTER I THE MICHIGAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE The Michigan Children's Institute, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was created by legislative action in 1955.1 It replaced the State Public School at Goldwater, Michigan, which was established as an institution in 1874 for the care and education of dependent and neglected children and was one of the first state-wide public agencies in the United States to break away from the traditional institutional method of foster care of state wards and to embark on the development of foster homes which would meet the individual needs of each child under care. The agency's Ann Arbor facilities are composed of the administrative headquarters and a small receiving home used for the pre-placement study and observation of approximately 18 children. A recent administrative development has been the establishment of five area offices located at lensing, Flint, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Mount Pleasant. Children under the care of the Michigan Children's Institute are received on orders of the county Probate Courts or by transfer from the State Boys Vocational or Girls Training lPublic Acts of Michigan, 1955. No. 220 Schools. Any child under fourteen years of age, sound in mind and body and without proper guardianship, or whose home has been adjudged an unfit place for a child, may be committed to the Michigan Children's Institute as a ward of the state by the Juvenile Division of a Probate Court. Certain other children, who are wards of the Probate Court and for whom permanent commitment is not indicated, may be committed to the Institute for study and observation for a period of thirty days. If foster home placement is warranted, such children may be placed and supervised in foster homes at state expense. The ability of the Institute to accept children is governed by the limited capacity of the Receiving Home in Ann Arbor, the availability of agency foster homes and of funds for payment of boarding care.2 Children under Michigan Children's Institute care are frequently severely damaged by their previous life experi- ences, and the agency uses foster homes as treatment in helping such children attain some measure of personal adjust- ment and happiness. Although the Michigan Children's Institute accepts children from all of Michigan's eighty-three counties, it is not state-wide in its homefinding and placement activities. 2Services For Children 1950—1952, Reprint from Seventh Bienniel Report, (Lansing, Michigan 1955), p. 91. Illlllll‘lll‘ . To date, such activities are carried on only as far north as the Bay-Muskegon county line in the lower peninsula and a five county area in the Upper Peninsula. Administratively, agency homefinding is carried out through a centralized homefinding department. However, the Institute has felt it vital to co-ordinate the Homefinding and Counseling Departments in order that the entire child- placing process of evaluation of the home, study of the child's needs, and his placement in the home finally selected is a joint effort of the departments. At the same time, the agency makes every effort to keep such casework procedures—homefinding and placement and supervision- distinct functions and responsibilities.5 Agency homefinders are furnished with current lists of children needing homes. Such material gives basic information regarding each child and his special needs. Homefinders may suggest homes in their territories that seem suitable, and it is the respon- sibility of the supervisor of the Homefinding Department to try to match the home and the child. When a home is selected by the supervisor of the Homefinding Department, it is presented to the Counseling Department for consideration. The next BLucille Barber, "Centralization of Homefinding - A Symposium. Homefinding in a Small Urban Children's Agency," Bulletin,_Child Welfare League of America, Inc., Vol. XXVII, No. 3, (March, 1%87, p. 5. step is the placement conference which brings the two departments together to evaluate jointly the homes in terms of the child's needs. These conferences are attended by the homefinder presenting the home, her supervisor, the children's counselor who knows the child, the counselor who will supervise the child if the home is accepted, their supervisors, the superintendent, and the psychiatrist or psychologist as indicated. The placement conference is the focal point at which the casework and administrative differences of the Homefinding and Counseling departments merge into the over-all child placing function of the agency. It is the point at which certain policy making decisions are threshed out in terms of the day to day process of child placing. A diagnostic re-evaluation of the child, which began with the thoughtful submitting of the foster home request, and questions of casework planning for the child's future needs become part of the conference since conference focus is on the use of a specific home with specific assets and limitations.“ State wards under the care of the Michigan Children's Institute as of June 50, 1954, numbered 1188. Agency professional staff at that time totaled forty-six persons. The Homefinding Department numbered ten workers and two 4Ibid., p. 6 supervisors. The Counseling Department consisted of twenty counselors and four supervisors. The agency legislative appropriation for the 1955-54 fiscal year was $846,846.OO.5 5Michigan Children's Institute Annual Statistical Report. 1955-54. pp. 7-15. CHAPTER II CURRENT OPINION ABOUT FOSTER HOMES There is little current literature bearing directly on this general problem or aspects of it. Child welfare literature indicates that much thought is being given to homefinding as such, with particular emphasis on its methods and techniques and with stress on careful evaluation of motives of foster parents. An accepted professional point of departure is that some families make successful foster parents, others do not. Suggestions and conclusions as to the preparing and training of foster mothers are easily accessible—-and all different. The Michigan Children's Institute has detailed recordings of monthly meetings of that agency's Homefinding and Adoption Departments during 1952 directed toward just such thoughts: What is good homefinding? Are there specific qualities which seem to lend themselves to successful "parenting?" What is the possibility of developing these necessary qualities with experience and supervision? A brief review of past studies and current.thinking follows: In 1946 England undertook a study of the care of children deprived of their own homes. Known as the Curtis Report, it was the result of a seventeen-month study by a committee appointed by the Home Secretary and the Ministers of Health and Education in the Coalition Government. Its purpose was "to inquire into existing methods of providing for children who from loss of parents or from any cause whatever are deprived of a normal home life with their own parents and relations."1 This study confined itself to broad findings, principles, and recommendations. As to what makes a foster home "suitable", it listed the following conditions: "congeniality between the child and both foster parents and a real prospect of security and the development of mutual affection; willingness on the part of the foster parent to further the interest and abilities of the child and to accept help in doing so; good wholesome conditions of living, however simple, not under the shadow of extreme poverty or precarious livelihood; a location where the child can are in local life and know the neighbors." Dr. Agatha Bowley, a British educational psychologist, undertook a study, edited in 1947, of the personal needs of children whose own families had failed them and offered some clues as to how we may be guided in our search for the best means of fostering a child's development in a lFortnightly, N. S. 159-160, 165-166, January-December 1946. Horace Marshall & Son Ltd. London. "Deprived Children and the Curtis Report," H. C. Dent, p. 596-402. 2 Ibid. Foreward IX-X. 10 home other than his own. She agreed with the Curtis Committee that the greatest need of the child is for sustained personal affection from some one individual. But she also said this is not enough and that those who take this responsibility must have special wisdom and skill. She stressed the importance of knowing motive, illustrating this conclusion by specific examples of un- healthy motives. In regard to positive motive, Dr. Bowley stated that a foster mother must be comfortable in a child's allegiance to own parents or his affections for persons from his past and be able to talk with him about them.3 The United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare had published a study of Home Finding by Gladys Denison Day whose understanding and insight into problems related to home finding and the use of foster homes grows out of many years of experience with the Children's Service Society of Wisconsin, the Chicago Child Care Association, and the Board of Public Welfare of the 4 District of Columbia. In discussing her philosophy of 5Agatha H. Bowley, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE UNTANTED CHILD, Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone Lts, 1947, p. 74. “Gladys Denison Day, HOME FINDING, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Social Security Administration, Children's Bureau, 1951. ll homefinding, Day stresses that each agency must evolve its own standards of what it needs and must require from foster homes. Yet--certain things she believes to be indispensable: "homes which provide reasonable physical comfort; parents who have moral standards which are acceptable in the community; people who are as nearly normal in their emotional development as possible, and foster parents who have the will and the capacity to establish a working relationship with the agency."5 In attempting to define the role of foster parent, Day makes these pertinent observations: Foster parents, like all parents, have different relationships to different children. They differ, too, in their relationship to different workers. While the foster parent-worker relation- ship is not a treatment one, foster parents sometimes grow through their relationship with the worker even as a caseworker may grow through her relationship with her supervisor. They are not clients or patients. Rather they are non-professional members of an agency staff usually on a voluntary basis since board payments in.most agencies are inadequate even to cover full expenses of the child. Foster parents like all human beings must get satisfaction from the work they are doing. Some foster SIbid., p. 3. 12 children are satisfying. Many of them are not. Almost all of them can belong only partly and tentatively to the foster parents. Many foster parents care for many children during their lives. The placement of one child may make the family happier, while another child may bring out hostility and anger which no one-least of all the foster family-ever knew existed. Many foster children are incapable of giving love to parent surrogates because of their feelings toward their own parents. These children are not emotionally satisfying to foster parents who want a child they can love and who will love them. Foster parents who care for emotionally disturbed children or who care for many children for short periods of time must get their satisfaction from a job well done rather than from the love of the children.6 Day challenges child placement workers to gain more knowledge about studying foster families and of interpreting the beliefs their agencies live by--stating: "Each agency must realize that only by studying successful foster homes and those that fail can we learn how to predict the ability of new applicants to become foster parents."7 Among Day's observations as to qualities inherent in successful foster parents are these: 6Gladys Denison Day, op. cit., p. 5-4. 7Ibid., p. 5. 13 "l. A foster parent needs to be able to spread to take in others and yet have the firmness and stability to hold close its own--and the "other" must become one of its own. 2. A good foster parent must have liking for people who are different from him- self. 5. A good foster parent must live a happy life. 4. A good foster parent must be free from hostility and destructive impulses. 5. A good foster parent has wisdom in dealing with children and their problems. 6. A good foster parent is able to work with the agency and wishes for the help of experts." Day re-emphasizes that foster parenthood is not the same as parenthood. It involves working with disturbod, unhappy children who have been hurt by their past oxperi- ences. It often involves acceptance of the adults in the child's family. Often this means admission to the homes of people whose standards are very different from those of the foster parents. Successful foster parenthood is dependent upon a feeling of strong loyalty to the agency.9 The Child Welfare League Committee on Homefinding which published a tentative outline regarding recruiting and studying foster homes, states: "In recruiting and selecting foster homes we are looking for these essentials: sound, well integrated families capable of offering a child a stable experience in family and community living; with the capacity to love and accept a child not their own; able to share responsi- bility for the child with the agency and the 81bid., p. 16-17. 91bid., p. 54-55. Ilrlllllllllll‘lul . 'il‘llr I! I 14 own family; and able to accept the agency's ultimate responsibility for the child's welfare during placement." Dorothy Hutchinson's book IN QUEST OF FOSTER PARENTS-- A Point of View On Homefinding is used almost as a manual in some child placement agencies. Hutchinson states that we have come to realize that foster parents are very human, that whether they develop or not, they do not fundamentally change; and that they are selected and used because of the normal gifts with which they are already endowed. Conse- quently, she reasons, the crux of homefinding lies in the selection of normally gratified people. In discussing the wish for parenthood, Hutchinson says that the urge to secure a foster child can be wholesome or unwholesome. Some foster mothers wish to perpetuate normal, genuine satisfactions of motherhood which they experienced with their own.children, now grown to independence. Some seek a.mature fulfillment of parenthood, denied them for real physiological reasons.ll Another forceful statement made by Miss Hutchinson is that "it is traditional that foster families which wish to board children are typical u 12 of the matriarchial family group. Another--in relation IOChild Welfare, Vol. xxx No. 103 December, 1951, "Some PrincipIe es Bas1c In Homefinding.a llDorothy Hutchinson, IN QUEST OF FOSTER PARENTS-A Point of View on Homefinding, New York: Columbia University Press, 1943, p. 10. 12Ibid., p. 12. 15 to motive "the purpose of taking a foster child to be a companion to an own child can be a sound incentive when the foster parents are reasonably mature and satisfied people."13 Along with the premise that good homefinding involves the ability to select normally gratified people who are already endowed with those qualities necessary for suc- cessful parents, the following material is pertinent to this study: A thesis presented at the Smith College for Social Work by Helen T. Cederquist in July, 1948 entitled "The Good Mother and Her Children" is work based on personal interview data and describes own mothers "who are bringing up their children without undue anxiety"-—how they behave and feel; what are their pleasures and problems with some indication as to whether their own early lives conformed to theoretical expectations as to favorable backgrounds.1# This study concerns nine mothers, selected as "emotionally secure mothers" meaning by this that they were self confident in bringing up their children and did not show undue strain, anxiety or doubt in regard to the task. Backgrounds and and social and financial status of the nine women out across cultural and economic groupings. Six were of native 15Ibid., p. 15-16. 14Helen T. Cederquist, "The Good Mother and Her Children," Smith College Studies in Social Work, Vol. XVIX, No. 1, October, 1948. 16 American stock, two were Negroes, and one was a Latvian refugee who had been in the country less than three years. Three lived in the slums, six in residential suburbs. Religion appeared not too vital a factor in the lives of most of the mothers. Cultural continuity as indicated by continual residence in the community of birth was also lacking in most cases. Most had had some experience in child rearing in their own families. A large proportion had had "higher education" and had worked for wages but none regarded paid employment as life work. All of the mothers married young--there had been no divorces--all had had children within the first few years of marriage and their marriages gave every evidence of being stable.15 As to how these nine women fitted into the theoretical expectations of the Freudian and other dynamic psychologists who maintain that a secure mother is a well-adjusted, emotionally mature woman who has successfully solved the conflicts of growing up-if then, the experiences of her first few years of life have been satisfying etc., Cederquist found that to a considerable extent these women's early lives did conform to such theories. Conclusions of Cederquist's study were these: 15Ibid., pp. 25. 17 "despite differences in emphasis and degree, these secure mothers showed certain similarities in their feelings and behavior toward their children and in their methods of handling them which existed irrespective of appearances and personality, cultural, social, or economic status. Such similarities were: genuine love for their children and their respect for them as individuals; the ability to tolerate in an easy-going way a great deal of childish activity and mischief--but at the same time having the ability to be firm in placing restrictions on their children. In handling the youngsters, the mothers favored the avoidance of clashes and difficulties as much as possible. They did this by well established but not rigidly enforced routines. They felt some punishment was nec- essary at times, to clear the air, but they applied it quickly and then "forgot" about it. The mothers were natural in their relationship with the children and relied largely on a rather instinctive understanding of them. They believed in a mutual give and take between parents and children, in which not only the parents but also the children expressed their feelings within limits. The mothers took the task of raising children seriously, feeling their responsibility not only for the happiness of the children's lives but for their usefulness in society."1 Cederquist felt that her research indicated that these mothers did not depend upon intellectual understanding and that the mothers who found the task of child-rearing easiest were those who were the most spontaneous. She concluded in relation.to her own area of interest-~social casework in child guidance clinics-that "the task of social casework in child guidance clinics thus becomes one of helping mothers to become sufficiently free of their anxieties about their 16Ibid., pp. 25-26. 18 children so that they can approximate the spontaneity of these emotionally secure women."l7 Throughout much of the literature concerning suc- cessful foster homefinding emphasis on.motivation is discernable. Irene Josselyn and Charlotte Towle presented a paper entitled "Evaluating Motives of Foster Parents" at the First Annual Homefinding Institute, sponsored by the Committee on Foster Homes for Children of the Welfare Council of Metropolitan Chicago, October 11, 1951 at Chicago. It is Towles' contention that there is no such thing as a good or bad motive-~that motives cannot be lifted out of context and evaluated--that they are relevant only in relation to other factors and forces in the life of the applicant and in the lives of those in close relationship to him.18 Towle states that it is not initial motivation that matters as much as capacity for remotivation and so in some instances, an individual's capacity for foster parent- l9 hood can be known only through his experience in that role. l7113161., pp. 26. 18Irene Josselyn, Charlotte Towle, "Evaluating Motives of Foster Parents," Child Welfare, Vol. XXXI, February 1952, p. 9. 19Ibid., p. 9. 19 In examining the dynamics of motivation Towle sees the family as an interdependent group of individuals, each needing one or more of the other family members and each needing to preserve his own identity in the group. The dependency alignments and the responsibility roles vary from family to family--and within any one family they vary from time to time. Frequently, parents apply for a child at a time of some change in family life which creates a lack and a feeling of need; they may be seeking to restore a former equilibrium. It is important to know the nature and extent of the change which has occurred.20 It is also important that agencies constantly re-evaluate their foster homes. Josselyn stresses the significance of evaluating the conscious and unconscious motivations involved in the desire to board a child and the importance of trying to determine as completely as possible the pattern of response that can be anticipated from a potential foster parent. As an aid to such evaluation she offered the following considerations: "1. What are the conscious reasons for wishing to assume the role of foster parent. 2. What more basic reasons are indicated or masked by the conscious motivation. 5. What form can the expression of the conscious and unconscious 20Ibid., p. 15. 20 motivation be expected to take in the actual living situation of the foster family and the child. 4. Whatever the motivations may be, can they be utilized to give a constructive life experience for the child and for the foster parents." Josselyn further states that a home should be repeatedly evaluated within this framework.21 Michigan Children's Institute discussions have been geared to determining which qualities we most want in foster parents. The need for families who can set limits appears obvious. Another need is for warmth, and Institute discussions included ways in which we assess this quality in people. Responsiveness to individual people, tenderness-- feeling with and feeling for people, and patience were enumerated as necessary qualities for successful foster parents. The ability to accept hostility and anger from the children without fear and excessive reaction was stressed. The ability to handle an angry hostile child without excessive guilt was considered essential.22 Above all, the Michigan Children's Institute group felt foster parents must be people with ability to modify their own attitudes and feelings, with "the ability to enter into what is 21Ibid., p. 7. 22Joint Meeting of Adoption and Homefinding Departments with Supervisors and Counselor Hepresentatives. Minutes October 15, 1952, pp. 2-3. 21 happening, to do something about it, to feel with it, and act on this feeling."25 23Ibid., October 27, 1952, p. 2. CHAPTER III PROCEDURES EMPLOYED IN THE STUDY The homes studied were selected in the following manner: The Supervisor of the Homefinding Department and the four Supervisors within the Counseling Department submitted a list of twenty—five homes which, in their judgment and in the judgment of counselors under their supervision, were considered particularly successful in caring for Michigan Children's Institute wards. From these twenty five homes, twenty were selected for study; selection was made in terms of accessibility of records. The twenty selected homes were in use at the time of selection-March, 1955. They were homes which had given continuous care to agency children during the time they were known to the Institute. Using material obtained from agency boarding home records, a Request for Home Study Blank known as MCI-HF-l was completed for each home. Next, an outline was prepared to be completed on each home by the counselor or home- finder adjudged by agency supervisors to be most familiar with eacn home. Completed outlines were received on all twenty homes. Upon receipt of the completed outlines, interviews were held whenever possible with the counselor 23 or homefinder around the areas of the outline. Completed HF-i's, notes taken in perusal of agency boarding home records, completed outlines, and notes on interviews with agency counselors and homefinders, were used to prepare a case summary on each home. The final draft of each case summary was reviewed with the homefinder or counselor familiar with the home. If there were differences in impressions between researcher and worker, the researcher made the final judgment regarding case summary material. An example of this procedure follows, with names and identifying information withheld. The method used in this study is an application of a form of case study technique to a small number of observations. The case study is limited by outline. Use of outline implies that the writer has a problem in.mind. In handling the data, the writer tried to keep her primary line of interest along the composition of attributes re- lative to each case. In reading records, in interviewing workers, she tried to keep in.mind the general aspects and specific statement of the problem1 - are there iden- tifiable characteristics or attribute patterns which ma (continue to page 32) 1Leonard Salter, "Cross Sectional and Case Grouping Procedures in Research Analysis," Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. XXIV, (February, 1942), pp. 792-795. —- 4k 5"" 24 REQUEST FOR HOME STUDY MICHIGAN CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE 1447 Washington Heights Ann Arbor, Michigan Telephone 2-3209 Data-Jane .................................... 1955 ......... as of Applicant-"3.9939 # REY-.31? Lil-$3.99: .............. (Number. Street or RFD) (City or Village) (Zone) (County) [LY COMPOSITION: (Give information for all members of family living in the home) LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE RACE RELIGION SCHOOL GRADE Smith Peter 66 Wh Prot lO Ella 5’4- " " Ellen 16 xxxxxx xxxxxxxx student Raymond 20 xxxxxx xxxxxxxx Clerk xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx ZR MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLD: (Relatives, Boarding Children, Boarders, Boomers, Hired help, etc.) LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE RACE RELATIONSHIP CONTRIBUTE TO OR — TO FAMILY RECEIVE FROM FAMILY ation of Wage Earner .......... R. etlred ..................................... Employer-"-3177 ............................... -. ............. Income- 5.5.0.031. .- lone Number .............................................................................................................................................................. (if none. give name and number of nearest telephone and distance) ions for reaching your home.-.l/’:i:..m-il-Q.- E-..’ -.Qf-- .U..-.9.S.9.-.-1.QQ--." .-6..5Q-..L.a.k..e... “RD-ad- .............................. (Include Section and Township. it In rural area) of Military Service of man (if any) ................................................................................................... Branch of Service .............................. CHILDREN NOT LIVING IN THE HOME (If deceased, give date and age at time Of death) LAST NAME FIRST NAME ADDRESS AGE _‘ Mary — 26 Roberta 25 members of the household are ill or handicapped, give particulars-Foster.father.-.has..-h.ear.t..-condition ------- and PLACE OF MARRIAGE; . 1.1.93.9 ............ _ ...... . ..................................... Maiden Name of Wife-“39.9393 ...................... 3r husband or wife were married previously, give dates and names.--.EE --marri cad-ens.--p.r-ev.i-Ously fen-15$. ................ Wife died 1958 - .................................................................................................................................................................. 3: Number of rooms.-.-- -6 ......... Number of bedrooms5 DO you own. or are you buying or renting your home? .......... own --------------------- Length of time you have lived in present home ....................................................... (OVER) Describe sleeping arrangements for children and adults living in the home. Include plan for prospective boarding children-.-“ ........................................................................................................... -..----------o-.-----------oooa----o-------..----..--.---.--.-.--...---.---..-—.---...-.---.-...u..---o.---..--...----..-..-.--o-oo.-o---..-.......u-o-..u...oc---.....c---o--- ............... ------------..-g.-.n-.---.-.n-----o.-o.—¢--o-au-----------—-----n---..nu-nuunoo.-..-.-..--...-.--..-..---------..--....--..--.--.--. .......................... ........................................................... . Will you have a separate bed for each boarding childP.--..--.-..l. WHY DO YOU WISH TO BOARD CHILDREN? ............................................ - ................. - ..1 ........... PREP-£93.?QPIQR .................................. ................................................................................................. -.._.............._..........................................................................................................._4. How many children do you wish to boardil.-. -..--.l..-..'2-- - . -l Indicate your preference as to sex, age, religion, etc. of children-.1917???$3993:-...lQ...Qh§-.l9§.e-R- Wi th ,mspecial needs _________________________________________________ On what basis do you desire to take children? Permanent Board ............. X. ........................... Adoption Temporary or study care ........... .X ........................................................ Help In home, on farm, other Have you ever kept boarding children before? .................... If yes, give particulars (how many, dates, by whom placed)...._.-.- ................ Have you ever had a boarding licenseP... COMMUNITY: (For each of ghe following indicate what facilities are available, their distance from the home and meansof “i portation Grade School. ..................................................................................................................... .. Hi ................................................................................................................... --..-..i High School. School -.4- mi- .. from home--school ..bus service..- ..... -...- Religious Education Family member sofaruralPr eSDyterlanCliurch ............................................... a .................................................................................................................................................... 4i Play and Entertainment ActIVItIes .................................................................................................................................................................. «i‘ ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 REFERENCES: (Give at least 5 persons not related to you, including your family physician and pastor) ’- NAME ADDRESS OCCUPATION , ................. SchoolSuperintendent 1‘ ................. Il- elshbors I ................................................................... 4.. 14. I If granted a boarding home license we hereby agree to comply with the following requirements: 1. Wehagé'ee to notify the Michigan Children’ S Institute immediately of any change In our address or changes within Omhfli Ol . i 2. If the child becomes ill we agree to'notify Michigan Children’s Institute and to see that medical attention is provided 3. We agree to comply with the “Rules and Regulations for Boarding Homes for Children” as printed and issued bl Michigan Social Welfare Commission #1“; (Signed) ........................................ Hus: (Signed)- _____ , ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Wife I ................................................................................................... Worker: ............ . ................... Date :- ................................. 25 Re: Smith Peter & Ella Route #5 River, Mason Co. To Counselor: Using the following outline as a guide, I am preparing a summary of the above home (one of the twenty used in.my research project). So far, material for summaries has been obtained entirely from our BH files. I had next hoped to have the advantage Of an interview with each counselor relative to the home and in the areas of the outline. Since I cannot accomplish this for at least a month's period, might I have your written comments re. this home in the five areas of the outline? I shall look forward to discussing the final draft of this home's summary with you. Thank you for this help. Alice Petersen Outline for Summaries I Family Relationshipg Boarding parents to own parents " " to siblings " " to own children Relationship of own to boarding children I know very little if anything about the relationship bdg. parents and with own siblings. They were married late in life. He was late forties, she was late thirties. His first wife had died leaving him with four children ranging in age from 5-16. Mrs. S was a most unusual step-mother; an R. N., skillfully handling the resentment his older daughters had Of her stepping into their home. With the youngest step-daughter her satisfactions came more easily. The own children were not required to give up always to the foster children, and this was one thing which was outstanding in winning the own children over to a real affection and consideration for foster children. While Mrs. S was much more active with all of the children than he, he is 26 steady and supportive. The children count on.his interest and support. She handles the close contacts and shields him from the more difficult frustrations. II Personality Factors re. Members Of BOarding Family Mr. Smith is quiet and kindly, a good man, but one Who seriously goes about his business on the farm. Mrs. S is the more enterprising, a tactful, resourceful, intel- ligent sensitive person With a quiet sense of humor and a knack for encouraging each child in community activity. She made their home a center for each child's group of friends. She used her training as a psychiatric public health nurse to win over her step children and foster children. This ranged from letting the aggressive adolescents sound off with more independence while she still kept a pretty firm rein to more affec- tionate nuturing of the younger children. Her very real contribution in time of illness did much to help her win the children and establish their confidence in her. III Motivation for Boarding Inc. any previous experience with foster care Motivation was financial and desire on Mrs. S's part to continue her professional contribution someplace. With Mr. S the motivation was also financial and some pride and respect for his wife's ability. He did not seem threatened by this. ‘ IV Family Activities Church school, 4-H, independent small neighborhood social functions. Much music, dancing, informal entertaining. V Agency Supervisory Expgrience with Boarding Family Mrs. S has assumed rather complete medical and psychiatric responsibility, reporting to 2'7 social worker, sharing her observations and plans of handling the children. She has received a higher rate of board and functions as a professional. Other Comments: Mrs. S is punctilious about showing respect for her husband's wishes, consulting him, but keeping the responsibility herself. The parenting relationship also has been one of mutual respect and consideration rather than a deeply personal relationship. This is a well organized household where fairness and independence is encouraged. There is much practicality about money matters which has helped the children take early steps to help themselves. There is real skill in developing social standards in the children who respond with some pride in the family's way of living. This has been sometimes too much of a strain on the children and resentment with the late adolescents has sometimes been covered up--sometimes it has broken through. Signed Home Finder 28 NOTES ON INTERVIEW WITH HOMEFINDER 8-10-55 Researcher's questions: Was there no need to possess here? Is role with agency a business- like and professional one? What was the board- ing father's relationship to boarding children? Is not a businesslike attitude reflected also in the marriage itself, and relationship between mother and father? Since this home has been used for long-time, have emotional satisfactions been deep enough for boarding children? Homefinder stated: We don't really know about the marriage as such, or their inter-personal relationships. There is mutual respect, though. It is a comfortable arrangement for both, and they present a united front to the children. The mother probably used boarding children be- cause she needed something that was hers. Standard Of living is high here. They have had some pretty disturbed children, and gave up on only one. This is a home which from the first set limits. Always a good relationship between own and boarding. They do get attached to children but not possessive. Foster mother assumes re- sponsibilities for medical and psychiatric arrange- ments for the children. NOTES FROM AGENCY BOARDING HOME RECORD Mr. S. thirteen years older than wife, and is a retired army officer. His first wife died leaving four children. Present wife was Public Health Nurse for fourteen years; had never been previously married. At time family first known to agency, 5 of the S. children were still at home; the fourth worked away from homes but came home week-ends. Also, Mrs. S's father, age 76, lived with them. They were first interviewed by agency for a child needing bed rest at a special board rate. Mr. S's parents were deceased; he had not too close 29 relationship with three siblings. Mrs. S had father living; had one sibling, married with three children. Mrs. and Mr. S were married 8 years before contacting agency. Mrs. S adopted her husband's children to give them greater financial security. Motive for boarding; remuneration "wants personal cash of her own". Mrs. S mentioned that home is already geared to children. A "real family"--all participate in farm project. Own children are encouraged and very successful in their work experiments. Each, including grandfather, has his own farm project which brings in.money. Mrs. S had a professional casework course; had worked with Children's Hospital; understood emotional needs of handicapped children. First boarded two girls 17 and 15; then a boy Of 8. Worked well with agency. Helped child to move on. Used as a study home. Met crises within family well. 50 CASE SUMMARY O.K'D by Homefinder 1-6-54 Mr. and Mrs. S. had been known to the agency for five years during which time they have been used as a study home for children with physical, personality, and behavior problems. Boarding from the first has been Mrs. S.'s project with Mr. S. assuming a quiet supportive role. Mrs. S. was motivated by her interest in adding to the family income and by her need to make a professional contribution on her own. Mr. and Mrs. S. had been married for eight years before undertaking a boarding experience. Mr. S. had been a widower with 4 children; Mrs. S. a Public Health Nurse. Both are mature people who have worked together toward a har- monious and satisfying home life. Their way of living stresses mutual consideration, co- operation, assumption Of individual responsi- bility tw' each member of the family, and mutual respect. Theirs is a well organized household where fairness and independence is encouraged and emphasis is placed on ingenuity and developing social standards. This is a home where there are family rules and regulations and where limits are held to. The Sis have not needed to keep children permanently and have been able to help children move on to a more permanent place. There has always been a good relationship between own and boarding children. Mrs. S. showed unusual ability in gaining the acceptance of her step-children, and in respecting each child as an individual. While Mrs. S. was more active with the children than Mr. S., the children count on his interest and support. The S. home was always the center of activity for all the children's friends, and there was much music, dancing, informal entertaining as well as participation in school and church activities. 51 Mrs. S. took on her husband's children, and they her. Together they built a real family already geared to children. Individual and family projects were encouraged. Mrs. S. is a resourceful, intelligent, and sensitive person with a knack for encouraging each child in community activity. Children have sometimes felt a little over-impressed by this family's social position and niceties of speech and manner . 52 indicate a family's potentialities for successful foster parenthood? Accordingly then, the writer geared all Of her activity toward accumulating information concerning each case which would pertain to the central problem. This study is a search for repeated identifiable patterns of attributes in the selected twenty homes adjudged successful in caring for state children. The process used in handling the collected data consisted of a trial and error grouping, sub-grouping, and re-grouping of cases, first by simple patterns of a few attributes which were assumed relevant and then by additional attributes which arose as relevant. If a pattern seemed to be appearing, an attempt was made to define it as such; when diversity within a pattern appeared, attributes covering the diversity were questioned as to whether they were major or minor or whether there were some other attributes which made for an Offset and whether there was an explanation of the exceptions. It was some- times necessary to establish a subSIdiary groupvithin a major group, since scrutiny of patterns revealed that they constituted certain combinations of features.2 ‘ The first grouping of data had six areas of attributes assumed relevant. The general areas concerned: 2 Ibid., p. 804. 53 Foster families themselves Foster care experience life experiences of foster parents Own children Attitudes toward children in general Desire for permanency in foster care relationships Olm-PKNNH O O O 0 Specific characteristics or attributes in each area numbered from two to six. Each home was examined in the light of this grouping with an attempt to discern patterns. Working within these general groupings, additional significant groupings were pointed up and sub-groupings and re-groupings followed. For example, in the area of "own children," it appeared that fourteen of the twenty families had own children, and that eleven Of said fourteen families had cared for foster children while their own children were still at home. This lead to further research into whether or not those families caring for foster children while own children were still at home had foster children within the same age range as their own children. Combinations of attributes began appearing within the first grouping. For example, of the eleven families having over ten years' foster care experience, ten families were couples married over fifteen.years. Also, families stressing family-centered activities tended to be characterized by a greater degree of participation in community affairs. This particular pattern applied to fourteen of the twenty families. 54 Another combination noted: of the five mother-dominated homes, three were patterned homes. For the purposes of this study a patterned home was considered to be a home characterized by family rules and regulations to which all members were expected to conform. Another combination of the same data was that each Of the three patterned homes was mother-dominated. The first grouping and subsequent sub-groupings re- vealed definable patterns witnin the foster families as family groups, but almost nothing about foster parents as people. In an attempt to develop such areas, all case summaries were re-examined in the light of observations and theories expounded in our search of current literature about successful foster homes. Attributes of the "good mother" cited by the Cederquist study were taken as a point of departure to see if these same attributes were found in the Michigan Children's Institute mothers. In relation to such comparison, it should be pointed out that outlines from which this study's case summaries were developed were not geared toward bringing out specifics as to how children were handled in the foster homes, nor to detailed definitions of personality characteristics. Motivation for caring for foster children was freshly examined for each of the twenty families with a View to 55 determining which specific needs suchcare filled. This general grouping developed into ten sub-groupings. The dynamics of developing good foster homes and the part relationShip to agency plays was the next area developed. All detectable combinations in the accumulated data were enumerated. Then, combinations were reduced to those which appeared psychologically relevant to the hypothesis, which was that there are characteristics or patterns of attributes which may indicate a family's positive potenti- alities for foster parenthood. In regard to number of patterns, the break-down of patterns was continued only to the point where such identified patterns came into some kind of functional conformity with the hypothesis. This study attempted to use the method of analytic induction upon subjective materials as a way of identifying Specific observational patterns or attributes. It is described by Leonard Salter as an illustration of the use of observational procedures of such a nature that the hypothesis and the data can be revised jointly during the 3 research in order to attain some purposeful uniformity. 5Leonard Salter, Ibid., p. 804. CHAPTER IV FOSTER HOME FINDINGS The findings are presented in the same order as they appeared by use of this particular methodology. The initial groupings pertained to attributes and patterns of attributes which characterized the foster homes in their functioning as family groups. TABLE I HOMES UNDER STUDY Type Frequency Rural farm 11 Rural non-farm 4 Village 2 City 3 TABLE II TIME KNOWN TO MICHIGAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE Years Frequency 1-5 6 3-5 1 5-10 7 over 10 6 37 TABLE III AGE OF CHILDREN CARED FOR DURING ENTIRE PERIOD HOMES WERE KNOWN TO AGENCY Months-Years Frequency Under 6 months 2 6 months-1 year 2 1-3 years 15 5-6 years 15 6-10 years ' 55 10-14 years 51 over 14 years 52 TABLE IV IENGTH OF MARRIAGE Years _ Frequency Under 10 2 10-15 2 15-20 4 over 20 12 58 TABLE V LENGTH OF FOSTER CARE EXPERIENCE Years Frequency Under 5 4 5-10 7 10-15 4 over 15 5 TABLE VI APPROXIMATE TOTAL NUMBER OF FOSTER CHILDREN CARED FOR PER FAMILY Number of children Number of families Under 5 5-10 10-15 15-20 over 20 N i—‘\N\D\O 59 The selected homes were predominantly rural. Thirteen of the twenty families had been known to the Institute for over five years; six families for over ten years. Of the 150 foster children cared for in the suc- cessful homes, ninety-six had been over six years of age while under care; sixty-three had been over ten years of age. The successful parents were couples sixteen of whom had been married over fifteen years at the time of the study. In relation to their total experience in giving foster care, sixteen of the twenty families had had over five years' experience at the time of the study; nine families had had over ten years' experience. In view of length of foster care experience, it is particularly interesting that only six of the twenty families had had over ten children each during their entire foster care experience, and that as large a number as nine of the families studied had cared for less than five foster children each during their total foster care experience. Though these were experienced foster families, each had not cared for a great number of different Children on a temporary basis. This le‘d into a study of permanency as it related to the families represented. 40 There were five of the twenty families whose foster care experience included at least one instance where status of state ward moved from boarding to adoption. There were four of the twenty families where the status of state ward at the time of the study was mOVIng toward a long-time plan. These two groupings represent seven of the twenty families studied. Of these seven families, six had expressed interest in adoption or long-time care during their initial contacts with the agency. A study as to how the selected homes used supervision revealed that fifteen of the twenty families showed marked ability to accept and use agency supervision. In an attempt to discern any existing relationship between being a natural parent and being able to suc- cessfully care for foster children, the following groupings were explored. TABLE VII OWN CHILDR 3N IN RELATION TO FOSTER PAPE ITTIl IG A. Families without own children 1 . . . . 6 B. Families with own children . . . . . 14 C. Families caring for foster children while own children were at home . . . . ll 1. Families caring for foster children within the same age range as own children . . . . . . . 8 41 Of the six families without own children, boarding home records indicated that four were unable to have own children. Concerning the remaining two families, no such information appeared in the records but each of the two families had indicated interest in adoption at their initial contacts with the agency. The fact that as many as eight families cared for foster children of the same age range as their own children lead to speculation as to the foeter parents' attitude toward the status of foster children. Did they feel a foster child's position different to the point of developing theories and philosophies in regard to their handling of agency children? In only three of the twenty homes was this indicated. This might indicate that these foster parents drew on their knowledge of children in general and their own natural feelings about them, and thus foster children were accepted and absorbed into the family unit. In nine of the selected families, such was discernable. To placement workers, the incidence of mother-dominated homes always appears high. Accordingly, then, it is interesting to note that among the twenty successful homes only five were so characterized. Three of the mother-dominated homes were patterned homes. The three were the only patterned homes among the selected twenty. For the purposes of this study, a patterned home was defined as a home characterized 42 by family rules and regulations to which all members were expected to conform. A mother-dominated home was a home in which the mother took the initiative in parental respon- sibilities and where she held the major controls in exercising such responsibilities. Of the three patterened homes, one family had cared for foster children for over five years; two families for over ten years. One family had cared for over twenty children; two families for over five children. Ten of the selected twenty families were characterized by consistent activity in community affairs. Eleven of the twenty families conSIStently emphasized family-centered activities. These two groupings concerned fourteen of the twenty families studied. The successful families did things together, inside and outside of the home. Along this same patterning was the high incidence among Michigan Children's Institute mothers of that attribute of "responsibility not only for the happiness of the children but for their use- fulness in society" evident in Cederquist's "good mothers." Michigan Children's Institute mothers were compared to Cederquist's good mothers, according to Cederquist's attributes. As previously stated, such a comparison was handicapped by the fact that the Michigan Children's Institute outlines had not been geared to obtaining information 45 like the Cederquist attributes. It would seem reasonable to expect a possibility of greater frequency in such a comparison had more pertinent material about Michigan Chil- dren's Institute families been available. TABLE VIII INCIDENCE OF CEDERQUIST'S GOOD MOTHER ATTRIBUTES AMONG TWENTY SELECTED MICHIGAN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE MOTHERS Attribute Frequency Respected children as individuals in own right 14 Ability to exercise firm handling 13 Task of raising children taken seriously with a sense of respon- sibility for a child's usefulness in society as well as his personal happiness 15 Natural in their relationship with the children and relied on a rather instinctive understanding of them 8 The comparison showed high incidence of some of the "good mother" attributes. First of significance was the prevalence among successful Michigan Children's Institute mothers of a serious approach to child raising with a sense of respon- sibility both to the child and to society. High also was the incidence of mothers who respected the children as individuals in their own right. Thirteen of the twenty Michigan Children's Institute mothers possessed the same ability to be firm that characterized Cederquist's "good mothers." In relation to the Freudian expectations that a "secure mother is a well-adjusted, emotionally mature woman who has successfully solved the conflicts of growing up" Cederquist found only one of her nine mothers where such was not so. Among Michigan Children's Institute foster parents, eight mothers and nine fathers, representing ten different couples, gave evidence of fitting into the Freudian principle. Five of the Michigan Children's Institute mothers and four of the Institute fathers gave evidence contrary to such a theory. Among the five mothers and four fathers, four different couples were represented. Of the five mothers, one had cared for fourteen state children; of the four couples one couple had cared for seventeen state children. For some of the Institute families, there was not sufficient information upon which to base a judgment in this area. The "ability to give" is freely referred to in most literature about good foster care. Indications are that nine of the Institute mothers possessed such an attribute. The "ability to give" is popular jargon in child plaCIng today, and may mean so many things to as many workers 45 that this particular finding may have, in itself, little relevance. Finally, what needs did foster children fill for the successful parents? A study of needs was undertaken with the hope that such might provide clues for motivation. TABLE IX NEEDS FULFILLED BY FOSTER PAREITING Need Frequency No own children--foster child "fulfillment” . . . . . . . . 6 Need to continue parenting . . . . . . 5 Foster mother showed strong need to give of herself . . . . . . . 5 Gratification received by seeing child respond . . . . . . . . 6 Foster child a kind of "extension of self" . . . . . . . . . 4 Receive professional satisfaction . . 4 Strong identification with insecure children . . . . . . . . . . 2 Need to give what they themselves had not had as Children . . . . . . . 2 Sense or duty 0 o o o o o o o o o o o 2 Received community status through foster parenting . . . . . . . 1 It was difficult to define the specific needs wnich foster care fulfilled for the twenty families since this area is understandably individualistic. In some families, caring for foster children appeared to meet several or more than several needs; in other families it was almost impossible to isolate any particular need. Again, needs are dynamic and change with family constellations and experiences. Only two of the successful families showed a strong need to give what they themselves had not had as children. Only two families, representing different couples than the before mentioned, showed strong identification with insecure children. An "extension of self" as it applies to motive for caring for foster children.may be defined as the wish to continue an experience through a foster child which a parent has himself enjoyed. For example, in one of the four families where such a need appeared, the foster father had come from a family of thirteen children and his up- bringing had benn secure and happy. This father saw any family as large and would have cared for many more children at any particular time than the agency provided, perhaps an unconscious desire to live over again his own happy childhood. 47 One may speculate that the need to continue in the parental role exists in some form in all foster homes. For the purposes of this study we designated only homes where, on the basis of available information, the need was strong and easily evident. Of the five homes so represented all were couples whose marriages were of long duration; four were couples who had raised own children and began boarding when own children were reaching adult- hood. The fifth couple had no own children but was the same family where the foster father had need for a large family. "To receive professional satisfaction" was strictly interpreted to mean possession of real objectivity toward the tasks involved in being a foster parent and the ability to absorb agency theories as to behavior and treatment and to develop skills through such knowledge and experience. Of the four homes so characterized, one was the case illustrated in Chapter III; another had at times been used as an agency study home; in one the foster mother "wants goals set for child--and works toward them." Gratification at a child's positive response to a home probably appears, in some form, in all good foster homes. For the purposes of this study, only homes showing marked evidence of such were designated. Six appeared. 48 One home was described as "having a need to succeed." In one of the homes, the foster father believes his wife to have a special "talent" for handling children. The "need to give of herself" seemed particularly . strong in five of the Michigan Children's Institute mothers. To illustrate, one mother is described as a blunt, rather high strung person who appears to have unlimited energy. She has a strong need to give of herself and may have a tendency to be a little too demanding regarding behavior norms." All in all, this attempt to study motivation seemed to bear out Towle's observation that motives cannot be lifted out of context and evaluated. They are relevant only in relation to other factors and forces in the life of the applicant and in the lives of those in close re— lationship to him? Irene Josselyn, Charlotte Towle, op. cit., p. 9. CHAPTER V GENERALIZATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY This study looks at twenty Michigan Children's Institute foster homes which, in the judgment of that agency, have been particularly successful in caring for state children. The study is geared to this question: Are there identifiable characteristics or attribute patterns which may indicate a family's potentialities for successful foster parenthood? The selected successful homes were predominantly rural. They tended to care for school age rather than pre-school age children. Such facts appear natural in light of the agency setting: the Michigan Children's Institute operates within a predominantly rural state and has committed to it more school age than pre-school age children. This study's findings make the following generalizations and implications appear pertinent: l. The selected successful homes were families with experience in caring for foster children. They were also families with experience in working with an agency. Since thirteen of the homes had been known to the Institute for over five years and six of the homes over ten years, the Institute had had sufficient time to evaluate the families' adaptability to the agency foster care program. The families 50 also, had had the opportunity to grow in foster care skills through agency supervision. It seems valid to assume that the skills involved in caring for foster children can be sharpened and developed through experience. Along this same area of speculation are the current theories as to agency responsibility for foster home devel- opment. Day's philosophy of foster home finding stresses that agencies must seek foster parents with the will and the capacity to establish a working relationship with the agency.1 She further states that a realization on the part of foster parents that they are respected as individuals and appreciated as foster parents and that they are partic- ipating in the agency's program makes it possible for them to continue to care for other people's children in spite of behavior problems, low board rates, and difficult natural parents.2 In all of the successful families there was evidence of ability to establish a working relationship with the Institute. It is interesting, too, that in each of the completed outlines, there was obvious recognition on the part of the worker for the foster parents as individuals, 1Gladys Denison Day, Op. Cit., p. 5. 2Ibid., pp. 5-4. 51 which respect must be assumed to have carried over into the everyday working relationship of worker and foster parent. 2. It appears significant that the families adjudged successful as foster parents were couples. sixteen of whom had marriages of over fifteen years duration. Sixteen of the selected families had had more than five years experience in being foster parents at the time of the study. Such figures mean that previous to the couple's experience as foster parents, their marriage had had the advantage of time to stabilize and mature. The subsequent observation could then be considered logical: that stability and maturity of the marital relatiOnship may have significant bearing upon a family's ability to care successfully for foster Children. 5. A third significant finding is that seven of the twenty families had or were having at the time of the study a foster care arrangement move from boarding to adoption. This means that seven families were desirous of changing the legal status of a boarding child from that of a ward of the state of Michigan to that of their legal son or daughter. The selected twenty homes were categorized by the agency as boarding, not adoptive, yet seven families had or were experiencing this desire for a permanent tie 52 with the foster child. In fact, Six of the seven families had from the beginning of their contact with the agency expressed interest in adopting a child. Does the desire for permanency in the parent-child relationship have direct bearing upon a family's ability to be successful foster parents? Concerning this study's findings, it is necessary to keep in mind that the Institute most frequently cares for children on permanent commitment to it. Thus, a permanent home plan would oftentimes best fit the needs of state children. On the other hand, speculation as to the value of the desire for permanency is contrary to the theory that such desire is not advisable in boarding parents, because of the emotional involvements, should permanent planning prove impossible or unwise. Inherent in this particular approach is the premise that since foster parents have not taken a child to raise to maturity, they are in the useful position of using to the full their parental capacities for a limited period of time, and can give more fully because the situation does not require the long-time support and parental responsibilities they may not want. It might seem, however, that being a parent is enough of a basic need so that a home can develop from boarding into adoption. No broad conclusions can be drawn from so small a number, but it would be a challenging area for further study. 55 4. The fact that fourteen of the twenty successful parents had own children might indicate,again, that parental knowledge and skills are dynamic and can be developed. It might further indicate that the role of foster parents was, for some of the families, an extension of the satis- factions they had received or were receiving from their own children. 5. The fact that only three of the twenty families gave evidence of theorizing about care of foster children suggests that the successful parents had the ability to take in agency children as own and deal with them as they would any child who was a member of their family. This study found in successful agency foster homes what Cederquist found in successful own homes; the mothers were natural in their relationship with the children and relied on a '1 rather instinctive understanding of them.9 6. In practice, many children whose living pattern has been insecure are thought to be more comfortable in a patterned home than in a family geared to a greater degree of flexibility among its members. Could such a small number as three patterned homes among the selected twenty indicate that such homes are workable because of their patterning but Helen T. Cederquist, Op, Cit., p. 25. 54 may not offer the best quality of foster care? In speculating as to the significance of this finding we are reminded that the categorizing of patterned homes as such is a comparatively recent development in child placement. It appears to be an outgrowth of our recognition that institutional care offers some children real security by virtue of its firm controls. Because of this, and because patterned homes are difficult to find, as well as the fact that the children who can use such homes are usually difficult children, the incidence of three among as small a number as twenty, may have greater significance than it appears. Again no broad conclusions can be drawn from so small a number, but it is another area worthy of further study. 7. Another significant finding was that fifteen of the selected twenty families gave evidence of mutual sharing between the father and mother in parental responsibilities. Such mutual participation seems to be a contributing factor toward successful foster care. 8. A further characteristic of the successful families was family activity inside and outside of the home. The successful parents had community as well as family interests, and were capable of taking and fostering attitudes of respon- sibility toward such. 55 9. To obtain any significant material concerning motivation would be a lengthy research project in itself. Nothing too significant appeared in this study's attempt, but the following observations appear worthy of note: The need to give what they did not themselves have as children is often expressed by boarding home applicants. Only two of the twenty families indicated any such need. In child placement, many believe that such motivation may work to the detriment of the child since the parent re-experiences feelings about his own deprived upbringing and his hostility and resentment are hard to control. It is not the motivation that is questionable, but the capacity of the parent to carry it through. Only two of the twenty families showed strong identi- fication with insecure children. This quality, too, is often shunned in placement. Foster parents are first of all human, and strong identification with an insecure child may bring old time fears and resentments to the surface with such force as to prevent objective handling. The placement, then, does not fall into its proper perspective in the family living pattern. An "extension of self" as it applies to motive appeared obvious in only four of the twenty families. About this motivation, Josselyn states such persOns may hope to relive 56 their lives in the framework of their ideal for them- selves rather than with the limitations they see as part of themselves. This need not be a destructive type of love but may be destructive if their own rigidity neces- sitates an arbitrary goal for the child that has no re- lationship to the child's own potentialityfT This was but a beginning in a study of motivation. A larger number of families studied within a different frame of reference, would be needed to determine evidence of patterning. There was, then, some evidence of discernable charac- teristics and attributes among the selected successful homes. The successful families tended to be couples who had been married for a number of years and had own children. Where they did not have own children they gave evidence of wanting foster children for their own. Boarding experience tended to emphasize long-term rather than short- term placements, and in many instances foster children had reached maturity having become permanent members of the boarding family, sometimes having the placement culminate in legal adoptive procedure. Generally, the foster homes stressed family activities inside and outside of the home, and tended to take on community responsibilities. There 4Irene Josselyn, Charlotte Towle, op. cit., p. 6. 57 was evidence of some similar patterning in their attitudes as to child raising, for example, respect for children as individuals; a sense of responsibility toward society as well as the child. Within the length and scope of this study there is material which could be further developed by different research procedures. Although this project dealt with a small number of homes, it is hoped that it may stimulate additional study within successful foster homes which may be tested and re-tested by further analytical techniques. AP" ' NDIX t1] 59 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Bowley, Agatha H. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE UNWANTED CHILD. Edinburgh: E..& S. Livingston Lts., 1947. Day, Gladys Denison. HOME FINDING. The Placement of Children in FamilIEs. ‘United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Social Security Administration, Children's Bureau, 1951. Hutchinson, Dorothy. IN QUEST OF FOSTER PARENTS - A Point of View on Homefinding. New York:: Celumbia University Press, 1945. Reports Michigan Social Welfare Commission. Services For Children 1230-1952. Reprint from seventh bienniel report. sing: 1955. Michigan Children's Institute. Annual Statistical Report Fiscal Year 1955-1954. Articles Barber, Lucille. "Centralization of Homefinding--A Symposium. Homefinding In a Small Urban Children's Agency," Bulletin, Child Welfare League of America,AInc., Vol. XXVII, No. 5, (19487, p. 6. Cederquist, Helen T. "The "Good Mother" and Her Children," Smith College Studies in Social work, Vol. XVIX, No. l (1948), pp. 1-26. Dent, H. C. "Deprived Children and the Curtis Report," Fortnightly, N. S. 159-160, 165-166, (1946), pp. 596-402. Josseyn, Irene. Towle, Charlotte "Evaluating Motives of Foster Parents," Child Welfare, Vol. XXII, February, 1952, pp. 3-9, l5:I4. H‘v—f ‘ v D I v . \ 6O Salter, Leonard. "Cross Sectional and Case-grouping Procedures In Research Analysis," Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. XXIV (I942), pp. 792-795, p. 804. Unpublished Material Joint Meeting of Adoption and Homefinding Departments with Supervisors and Counsellor Representatives. September 15, 1952. September 29, 1952. October 15, 1952. October 27, 1952. n21 61 REQUEST FOR HOME STUDY MICHIGAN CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE 1447 Washington Heights Ann Arbor, Michigan Telephone 2-3209 as of Applicant...... ....................... (Number. Street or RFD) (City or Village) (Zone) (County) [LY COMPOSITION: (Give information for all members of family living in the home) LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE RACE RELIGION SCHOOL GRADE XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX arr—retry” -' - MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLD: (Relatives, Boarding Children, Boarders, Boomers, Hired help, etc.) LAST NAME FIRST NAME ‘ AGE RACE RELATIONSHIP CONTRIBUTE TO OR TO FAMILY RECEIVE FROM FAMILY F T¥ R Lipstion of Wage Earner ........... . ........................................................ Employer .............................................. . ............... Income .................... Lhone Number ........................... . ................................................................................................................................... (If none. give name and number of nearest telephone and distance) lifions for reaching your home ................................................................................................................................................... ‘ (Include Section and Township. if in rural area.) of Military Service of man (if any) ......................................................... .- Branch of Service. CHILDREN NOT LIVING IN THE HOME (If deceased, give date and age at time of death) LAST NAME FIRST NAME ADDRESS AGE 'lmembers of the household are ill or handicapped, give particulars ...... - ................................................................................ E and PLACE OF MARRIAGE ..................................................................................... Maiden Name of Wife .......................................... her husband or wife were married previously, give dates and names ................................................................................ ‘lE: Number of rooms ................... Number of bedrooms DO you own, or are you buying or renting your home? .......... .......................... Length of time you have lived in present home. (OVER) Describe sleeping arrangements for children and adults living in the home. Include plan for prospective boarding childrenmm... .................................................................................................... .----.......-.........-------.....-.....-~-.-.~.------.............-..----.......-.-.-..--.-...-.....ooo-n-....-.......y....-...-.oo-c......-.--..-..o.-..-.oo.-..--..-..o.-o-o ----------------------------------- o. ............ ..... .-Will you have a separate bed for each hoarding child?“ WHY DO YOU WISH TO BOARD CHILDREN? .................. . ......................... ................ - How many children do you wish to board?” A Indicate your preference as to sex, age, religion, etc., of children-....-...-.-. . -. On what basis do you desire to take children? Permanent Board-.-.....- Adoption Temporary or study care-.. ................... . ................. Help in home, on farm, other Have you ever kept boarding children before? .................... If yes, give particulars (how many, dates, by whom placed) .................. .................................................. Have you ever had a boarding license?... COMMUNITY: (For each of the follOwing indicate what facilities are available, their distance from the home and means of t portation) Grade School ........................................................................................................................ High School ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... Rethous EducatIon .................................................................................................................................. Play and Entertainment ActIVItIes .................................................................................................................................................................... ................... -.--.-- . ...--..-.-.--...--...-----..-...---.....-.-..-.-—--..._--..--.-.-....-.u-.-.-.-..-..-...--.--.-..--..---o......-.-.-..-ou--.-.....-cc.----......--o ............... REFERENCES: (Give at least 5 persons not related to you, including your family physician and pastor) NAME ADDRESS OCCUPATION ............................................................................................................................................................................... ............... ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ u“ ............ -¢--o--.--.-...o.-------.----.-.----.-.o--.-.---o.n---.-----.---..---------. .-.--.......----..----—--.-..--...--..-.o-o........-.--.-.-----..-.-.-.-.---.- .-.-.-u-u..--.o-......co.-.--.o¢oc--.- .................. .............. .c..--..-.-o-.-.---.--..-....-.--...-------.-.-----.-----o---.... .-- ................................................................................................... ............. ...-.- . --- .-----.-..-..-.---.---—-----.---.-u---oo---.-.--..--.---..--.-..--uuuqauu-o-cc oun-nu..--...-...--..-..no-...-.--.-.---..-o ............ If granted a boarding home license we hereby agree to comply with the following requirements: 1. Weilalgciee to notify the Michigan Children’s Institute immediately of any change in our address or changes within our 11C 0 . 2. If the child becomes ill we agree to notify Michigan Children's Institute and to see that medical attention is provided- 3. We agree to comply with the “Rules and Regulations for Boarding Homes for Children” as printed and issued by Michigan Social Welfare Commission (Signed) , ..... Husk (Signed) ............................ , .Wife .................................................................. Worker: ............................................. Date ............... 62 Re: TO Counselor: Using the following outline as a guide, I am preparing a summary of the above foster home (one of the twenty used in my research project). So far, material for summaries has been obtained entirely from our BH files. I had next hoped to have the advantage of an interview with each counselor relative to the home and in the areas Of the Of the outline. Since I cannot accomplish this for at least a month's period, might I have your written comments re. this home in the five areas of the outline? I shall look forward to discussing the final draft of this home's summary with you. Thank you much for this help. Outline for Summaries I. Familngelationships Boarding parents to own parents Boarding parents to siblings Boarding parents to own children Relationship of own to boarding children II. Personality Factors re. Members of Boarding Family IIII Motivation for Boarding Include any previous experience with foster care 65 Re: IV Family Activities V. Agency Supervisory Experience with Boarding Family Other Comments: APPENDIX CHARTS 65 w...>._.m Om. 2:01.992 Omp>mdim24 O... w00_>r. 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