OVERDUE FINES: ‘ 25¢ per day per in!» RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place in book return to mauve I charge from circulation records 0“ .k LU to A 0 tnl 0 0 C C) to A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF TWO FOSTER PARENT TRAINING METHODS ON ATTITUDES OF PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE, SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN, AND GENERAL FOSTER PARENT ATTITUDES By David L. Brown A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Counseling, Personnel Services, and Educational Psychology 1980 ABSTRACT A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF TWO FOSTER PARENT TRAINING METHODS ON ATTITUDES OF PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE, SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN, AND GENERAL FOSTER PARENT ATTITUDES By David L. Brown The extensive use of foster care as a form of substitute family care has lead to an increased interest in foster care as a viable alternative to in home care. Foster parents have become increasingly vocal in their demands for specialized training. Group sessions which utilized the foster parent's experience were seen as an efficient method to train foster parents. The purpose of this research was to determine the effects that two formalized training programs had on foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance, sensitivity to children, and general foster parent attitudes. A pretest-posttest control group design was used and a‘ total of 59 foster parents were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups. Two groups received the Issues in Fostering (ISSUES) curriculum and two groups received the Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) curriculum. The fifth group, the control group, did not receive any training. The research trainers were randomly assigned to a training program and then trained and supervised by representatives of those programs. A univariate analysis of covariance with planned comparisons procedure was used to test the six major hypotheses. The dependent measures were the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS), used to David L. Brown measure attitudes of parental acceptance, the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC), used to measure sensitivity to children's needs and the Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) used to measure general foster parent attitudes. No differences were found between the groups on attitudes of parental acceptance and general foster parent attitudes. Differences were found between the training groups on the sensitivity to children scores. The FPSTP subjects, after training, used more "effective" responses than the ISSUES subjects. No differences were found between the combined training group scores and the control group on the sensitivity to children variable. A univariate analysis for repeated measures procedure was used during the ten week training period. Significant treatment by time effects were found between the training groups on attitudes of parental acceptance and sensitivity to children. The FPSTP subjects demonstrated significant gains in parental acceptance as measured by the PPAS. Additionally, the FPSTP subjects increased their usage of "effective" responses over time. The majority of that increase was due to an increased use of "reflective statements." No other treatment by time effects were formed. Data was gathered regarding problems that concerned foster parents. The results of that data suggested that the FPSTP training offered more help with a larger percentage of the foster parents' self reported problems than did the ISSUES training. The major impact of the FPSTP training appeared to be with problems that dealt with child behaviors and communication. The ISSUES training had its greatest impact in helping foster parents deal with problems with agency representatives. David L. Brown The subjects' responses to the program evaluation questionnaire indicated that both training programs provided relevant information and that the ten weeks training had been worthwhile. A major recommendation of this study was that a curriculum be developed that would combine the strength of both programs. It was suggested that information from the ISSUES training that dealt with separation trauma, and, information that defined the foster parents' role in relationship to other professionals should be added to the FPSTP curriculum. Thus, a l2 week course that combined the strength of both programs would be formed. (EQCopyright by David L. Brown I980 DEDICATION To the most loved people in my life. Theresa, my wife, Anne and Gladstone Brown, my parents, and my sister, Anne. 11' ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A research project of this magnitude requires the cooperation of a large number of people. I want to acknowledge the foster parents who participated in this study and thank them for their dedicated service to children. The cooperation of the Ingham County Probate Court Staff was very helpful. I especially appreciate the efforts of Warren Ritter, Carol Whitworth, Marilyn Hukill, Frank Buzzitta and Margo Solem. I am indebted to Maureen Cleary, Marcey Ott, Steve Polzin, and Connie Robson for their outstanding service and dedication as research trainers. I want to thank Dr. Louise Guerney and Peggy Palmiter for the supervision and training they offered these trainers. I want to acknowledge the authors of both training programs, Dr. Louise Guerney and Dr. Patricia Ryan, for the cooperation and interest they exhibited throughout the research. I am grateful to Terry Brown, Jan Lazar, Kate Winslow, Brenda Whitehead, and Dolly Kemppainen for the endless hours spent collecting and rating data. I particularly want to thank Rhoda Blend for her excellent job of coding the research data. I want to thank my chairman Dr. James Engelkes for his input which served to strengthen this research. I also want to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. William Hinds, Dr. Richard Johnson, and Dr. Gary Stollak for their willingness to offer advice and answer any questions I had. A special thanks goes to my fellow students, Hal Weinstein, Anne Chandler, and Bruce Walker for their invaluable friendship throughout my doctoral program. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Judith Taylor for her input which shaped this research dramatically. Her advice and skill gave me a sense of direction and purpose which greatly facilitated the completion of this work. I want to thank Pat Sweet for her typing and advice regarding the presentation of this dissertation. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Terry, my parents and sister, Branch, Jim, and other friends who offered love, friendship, and support that provided the energy that helped me finish this work. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................... LIST OF FIGURES ........................... Chapter I THE PROBLEM .......................... Introduction and Need ..................... Purpose ............................ Research Questions ...................... Definition of Terms ......... . . . .......... Surrma ry ............................ Overview ........................... II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ................. OVERVIEW ........................... Historical Perspective of Foster Care Services ....... Parental Attitudes and Child Development .......... Group Training Methods ................... General Principles of Learning and their Relationship to the Development of a Foster Parent Training Curriculum ........................ Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) ....... Foster Parent Training Project of the Eastern Michigan University ........................ Summary .......................... III METHODOLOGY .......................... OVERVIEW ........................... Procedures .......................... Selection of the Sample .................. Assignment of Subjects to Groups .............. Goals and Specific Outlines of Training .......... Trainers .......................... Training and Supervision of the Issues in Fostering Trainers ......................... Training and Supervision of the Foster Parent Skills Training Program Trainers . . . ............. Instrumentation ........................ Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) ..... . . . . . Reliability and Validity Data ............... iv ix Page —I LDKDNVCh-J ll II I] l7 I9 39 4O 4O 4] Chapter Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC) (Appendix A) ..................... Reliability Data .................... Scoring of the STC Questionnaire ............ Foster Parent Attitude Survey ............. The Scoring of the FPAS ................ Reliability and Validity Data of the FPAS ....... Other Instrumentation. . . ................ Foster Parent's Profile Questionnaire (Appendix B). . . Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problem Areas (Appendix C) .................. Foster Parent Contact Sheet (Appendix D) ........ Foster Parent Program Evaluation Questionnaire (FPPEQ) (Appendix E) ................. Data Collection for Training Groups .......... Data Collection for the Control Group ......... Research Questions .................... Research Hypotheses .................... Research Design ...................... Design Over Measures .................. Data Analysis ..................... Supplementary Analysis ................. Summary ........................ IV ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ..................... OVERVIEW ........................... Demographics Characteristics of the Sample ........ Hypotheses Testing ...................... Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) .......... Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire ........... Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) ........... Supplementary Analysis .................... Treatment by Time Effect on PPAS ............. Treatment by Time Effect on FPAS ............. Treatment by Time Effect on the STC ............ PPAS, FPAS, and STC by Demographic Variables ....... Self-Reported Problem Areas ................. FPSTP and ISSUES Groups at 10 Weeks ............. Problems With Agency Representatives ........... Problems With Natural Parents.. .............. Problems With Child Behaviors ............... Problems With Separation ................. Problems With Communication ................ Problems With Legal System ................ Additional Problems .................... Summary of the Seven Problem Areas ............ Control Group at 10 Weeks ................. Foster Parent Contact Sheets ................. Results of the Foster Parent Contact Sheets ........ 56 Chapter Page Foster Parent Program Evaluation Questionnaire (FPPEQ) ..... 82 Comments by Foster Parents on Class Content ......... 88 Summary ................... 93 V SUMMARY, DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, AND IMPLICATIONS ........ 95 SUMMARY ............................ 95 The Problem ......................... 95 Design and Methodology ................... 96 Results ........................... 97 Discussion of the Results .................. 98 Conclusions ......................... lOl Limitations ......................... lO4 Implications for Future Research .............. 107 In Retrospect ........................ lO9 APPENDIX A SENSITIVITY T0 CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE AND SCORING PROCEDURE . . llO B FOSTER PARENT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE .............. ll8 C FOSTER PARENT INSTRUMENT FOR SELF-REPORTED PROBLEM AREAS. . . . l23 D FOSTER PARENT CONTACT SHEET .................. 135 E FOSTER PARENT PROGRAM EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE ......... l36 F ANALYSES OF THE DIFFERENCE SCORES ON THE PORTER PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE SCALE, FOSTER PARENT ATTITUDE SURVEY, AND SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE, WHEN GROUPED BY DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES .................... l4l TABLE F.l ........................... l4l TABLE F.2 ........................... l42 TABLE F.3 ....................... . . . . l43 TABLE F.4 ........................... l44 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................. 145 vi Table «bub-54> wa .11 .12 .13 .14 .15 .16 .17 .18 LIST OF TABLES ATTRITION OF SUBJECTS ..................... RACIAL COMPOSITION OF SUBJECTS ................ EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF SUBJECTS ................. YEARS OF SERVICE AS FOSTER PARENTS .............. SUMMARY OF UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE FOR THE TESTS OF HYPOTHESES ONE AND FOUR (PPAS) ............... SUMMARY OF UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE FOR THE TESTS OF HYPOTHESES TWO AND FIVE (STC) ................ PRETEST AND POSTTEST MEANS OF "EFFECTIVE" RESPONSES OF TRAIN- ING GROUPS AND CONTROL GROUP ................ SUMMARY OF UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE FOR THE TESTS OF HYPOTHESES THREE AND SIX (FPAS) ............... MEAN SCORES OF PPAS PRETEST AND POSTTEST FOR THE TESTS OF FPSTP, AND CONTROL GROUPS .................. UNIVARIATE TESTS FOR TREATMENT BY TIME EFFECTS ON THE PPAS . . MEAN SCORES 0F FPAS PRETEST AND POSTTEST FOR THE ISSUES, FPSTP, AND CONTROL GROUPS .................. UNIVARIATE TESTS FOR TREATMENT BY TIME EFFECTS ON THE FPAS . . MULTIVARIATE TESTS FOR TREATMENT BY TIME EFFECTS ON THE STC. . UNIVARIATE TESTS FOR TREATMENT BY TIME EFFECTS ON THE 16 RESPONSE CATEGORIES OF THE STC ............... PRETEST AND POSTTEST MEAN SCORES OF THE REFLECTION CATEGORY FOR THE ISSUES, FPSTP, AND CONTROL GROUPS .......... SELF-REPORTED PROBLEMS OF FOSTER PARENTS AT THE FIFTH WEEK . . SELF-REPORTED PROBLEMS OF FOSTER PARENTS AT THE END OF 10 WEEKS .............. . SELF-REPORTED PROBLEMS OF THE CONTROL GROUP FOSTER PARENTS AT THE END OF 10 WEEKS ..................... CONTROL GROUP RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ABOUT SELF-REPORTED PROBLEM AREAS ........................ vii Page 34 57 57 58 59 61 61 62 63 64 65 65 66 67 68 7O 73 77 78 Table 4.l9 4.20 4.2l 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 Page SUMMARY OF CONTACTS FOR ALL GROUPS .............. 79 PURPOSES OF FOSTER PARENT CONTACTS FOR ALL GROUPS ...... 80 RESPONSES BY TRAINING GROUPS CONCERNING USEFULNESS OF TRAINING TO HELP UNDERSTAND FOSTER CARE NEEDS AND COURT POLICIES. . 83 RESPONSES BY TRAINING GROUPS CONCERNING USEFULNESS OF TRAINING IN WORKING WITH OTHERS .................. 84 RESPONSES BY TRAINING GROUPS CONCERNING USEFULNESS OF TRAINING IN WORKING AND COMMUNICATING WITH CASEWORKERS AND FOSTER CHILDREN ......................... 86 RESPONSES BY TREATMENT GROUPS TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE GROUP PROCESS AND CLASS MATERIALS ............. 87 RESPONSES BY TRAINING GROUPS CONCERNING CLASS STRUCTURE, LENGTH, RELEVANCE AND WORTHWHILENESS ........... 88 RESPONSES BY TRAINING GROUPS CONCERNING CHANGE IN THE FOSTER FAMILY AS A RESULT OF TRAINING .............. 92 viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ...................... 52 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN OVER MEASURES ............... 53 ix CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction and Need Dr. Ner Littner, Director of the Child Therapy Program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, stated in an article entitled "The Art of Being a Foster Parent" that, The foster parent is made up of more than the legendary "Sugar and spice and everything nice." Like all human beings, she has her share of strength and frailty, of happiness and sorrow. She laughs, she cries, she gets angry--she is a person first, a foster parent second. ... The pressures on a foster parent are enormous, the expectations by her of herself are extremely high, and the expectations of her by others are often extraordinary, if not impossible. Yet one is faced by the reality that many foster parents do a tremendous job. (Littner, l978) The importance of foster care was recently reaffirmed by the Child Welfare League of America when it stated, ...that foster care services administered and delivered according to standards are vital to the growth and development of some children and necessary to maintain many families beset by crises and chronic problems (Child Welfare League of America, l979). Individuals as well as agencies have seen the need for quality foster care in this country and recent trends suggest that Child Welfare agencies rely heavily on foster care as an important part of child care services. In March of 1974, Ferman, Warren, and Watts (1974) of Eastern Michigan University indicated in their research proposal submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health that over 300,000 children in the United States were being raised by foster families. This estimate included 9,000 children in Michigan who were in foster care at the time of that proposal. A more recent estimate by Vasaly (1976) placed the total number of children in the United States at approxi- mately 400,000. This reflects an apparent increase in the number of children in foster care since 1963. Vasaly (1976) cited from reports issued by the National Center for Social Statistics that there had been an increase in the use of foster care of 27 percent between 1963 and 1970. In the past ten years the Ingham County Probate Court has relied on foster care as a major source of treatment for court wards. The court statistics for 1969 reported that 25 percent of all court children were placed in foster care. This 25 percent figure repre- sented 10.4 percent of all the neglect children under the jurisdiction of the court (Ingham County Probate Court Annual Report, 1971). In June of 1979, the Foster Care Department of the Ingham County Probate Court reported that 207 or 31 percent of all the children under court juris- diction were placed in foster care. Additionally, 173 or 48.6 percent of all court wards supervised by the Department of Social Services, Family and Child Services, and Catholic Social Services, as of June 1979, were placed in foster homes (ICPC Statistics, 1979). These statistics indicate the extensive use of foster care by the court and other local agencies. Children who, for one reason or another, have been removed from the custody of their natural parents must rely on the effectiveness of the foster care system to provide them with a home environment that will prepare them for the future. Kadushin (1967) reported: There is a trend toward a changing composition of children coming into foster family care. The development of services to children in their own home implies that many situations that once led to foster care do not do so today. This suggests that the families of children needing foster care are those that demonstrate the greatest disorgan- ization, the greatest pathology. Children who have lived under such conditions for sometime have suffered more deprivation and have more emotional difficulties than was true of children who came into foster care earlier in our history. (p. 423) Because of the changing composition of the children placed in foster care, the demands on foster parents have increased in recent years. A trend has developed in which the foster family is viewed not only as a source of care and protection but also as a treatment facility. The foster parents then become an indespensible part of the overall treatment plan. (Kadushin, 1967). Ferman, Warren, Watts (1974) pointed out that foster families have formed organizations to help them deal more effectively with child welfare agencies and to assure better service for the children in their care. Consistently, these organizations have asked that the agencies provide training programs that would increase foster parents' effectiveness. . Goldstein (1967) discussed a group approach to foster parent training which was initiated because of the requests made by foster parents. The foster parents indicated a need to have a complete picture of the agency's operations and information about community resources, and in addition, a request for formalized group training was made to help the participants learn to fulfill their role as foster parents. Kennedy (1970) reported the formation of the Community Assistance to Homeless Youngsters (CATHY) organization. CATHY'S membership consisted of both foster and non-foster parents who were interested in the problem of foster care in Los Angeles County. In her article, Kennedy pointed out weaknesses of foster care programs that were indicated by over 600 foster parents. One major weakness that concerned at least 75 percent of the foster parents was the need for more training. They further suggested that training should be in a series format rather than a single orientation program. They generally agreed that foster parents gain by talking with other experienced skillful foster parents, and that this kind of training should be encouraged. Vasaly (1976) found that foster parents receive little or no training prior to the placement of a foster child in their home. Most of the states she studied neither provided nor required any training during placement. She discovered that most foster parents were poorly informed on agency policies, services available, and procedures one follows to procure help in time of need. As the demands on foster parents increased during the years, foster parents began to seek support that would allow them to improve the services they offered children. Foster parents, along with interested members of the community, formed organizations that called for specialized training for foster parents. It was felt that training should help the foster parents learn more about the agencies with whom they were affiliated. Further, foster parents wanted to know about the agencies' expectations of them as foster parents. They also indicated a need for information that would help them deal with problematic child behaviors and identify those community resources and procedures that could help them in time of need. Foster parents felt they learned from other experienced foster parents and suggested that a series of classes with a group format would be useful in formal training programs. The problems and concerns of foster parents previously cited (Goldstein, 1967; Kennedy, 1970; Vasaly, 1976) are similar to the problems and concerns of the foster parents of Ingham County. The court supplies over 80 percent of the foster homes used in Ingham County. The vast majority of the foster parents in the court-licensed foster homes have not had any extended formalized group training. The Foster Parent Association of Ingham County approached the Foster Care Unit of the court and requested training for foster parents. Both groups were interested in a training program that would be specifically developed to meet the needs of the foster parents. This expressed desire for formalized training at the local level is illustrative of a problem that has become a national concern. Recent studies (Ferman, Warren, Watts, I974; Vasaly, 1976) have shown that large numbers of children are placed in foster care in this country. As the demands on the existing foster care system become more pronounced, the need to offer foster parents specialized training becomes extremely important for foster parents and the children they serve. The expressed need for training by the foster parents of Ingham County Probate Court was indicative of a pressing local need as well as being representative of a larger national concern. This study was developed to meet that local need as well as to address the broader issues of training by using two nationally prominent methods of training foster parents. The training techniques used were developed specifically for foster parents and have been used extensively in Michigan and Pennsylvania to train foster parents. The particular classes offered were the "Issues In Fostering" class developed by the Foster Parent Training Project at Eastern Michigan University. The second program was the "Foster Parent Skills Training Program" developed by Dr. Louise Guerney of the Pennsylvania State University. Though research has been conducted regarding each specific program, little research data is available that compares these programs with other established training programs. Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare two foster parent training techniques in an effort to assess the differential effects these programs may have had on foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance and on foster parents' sensitivity to children's needs. The Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) was used to measure the foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance. The Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) was used to measure general foster parent attitudes, and a form of Stollak's Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC) was utilized to determine the foster parents' sensitivity to children's needs. A further purpose of this study was to collect descriptive data that could be used to evaluate these programs in specific areas. First, data was collected in an effort to evaluate each program's capacity to present information that would help foster parents solve problems they encountered while fulfilling their role as foster parents and caregivers. Second, participants evaluated the utility of the training program as it related to their ability to function as foster parents. Finally, this research was conducted to meet a very practical need inasmuch as it provided training to over 60 foster parents who had expressed a desire for formalized training. Research Questions The need for foster parent training has given rise to the development of a variety of training programs. This research was aimed at comparing two programs extensively used by child welfare agencies. This research attempted to answer some basic questions: Did one training program produce different effects on parental attitudes of acceptance as compared to the other training program? Secondly, did the training programs differ significantly from each other regarding parental sensitivity to children? Thirdly, did either of these programs differ from each other regarding foster parent attitudes, as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey? Further, did either of the programs differ from the control group on the variables previously mentioned? Finally, did these training programs help foster parents find solutions to problems they reported as being important to them? Definition of Terms 1. Foster Care: ... a service which provides substitute family care for a planned period for a child when his own family cannot care for him for a temporary or extended period, and when adoption is neither desirable nor possible. (Child Welfare League of America, 1959, p.5) Foster Child: a child who has been placed in foster care by some order of the Juvenile Justice System or has been placed voluntarily by his/her parents or custodians. Foster Parent: an individual who is duly licensed by the state to provide foster care in his/her own home. Parental Acceptance: ... feelings and behavior on the part of the parents which are characterized by... a recognition of the child as a person with feelings, who has a right and need to express those feelings, a value for the unique make up of the child and a recognition of the childs need to differentiate and separate himself from his parents in order that he may become an autonomous individual. (Porter, 1954, p. 177) Parental Non Acceptance: ... is considered to include rejection, overprotection, indulgence, and other forms of parental behavior which fail to provide the child with an assurance of being a worthy individual who is respected for his uniqueness and need to become an autonomous individual. (Porter, 1954, p. 117) Sensitive Responses: written responses characterized by an acceptance and awareness of a child's needs and feelings Which facilitate communication between parent and child. 7. Insensitive Responses: written responses characterized by non-acceptance and lack of awareness of a child's needs and feelings which hinder communication between parent and child. Summary Foster Care in this country is used extensively as substitute family care for over 400,000 children. National statistics indicate that foster care placements have risen substantially between 1963 and 1976. Foster parents have formed organizations in an effort to acquire the services they need to fulfill their roles as foster parents. These organizations have repeatedly stated that foster parents want and need extensive and organized training programs that will help them deal with the problems of foster care. The purpose of this research was to, (a) provide extensive and organized training to foster parents, (b) compare the differential effects of these training programs on attitudes of parental acceptance, sensitivity to children, and general foster parent attitudes, and (c) describe what effect these programs may have had on specific problems that were reported by the foster parents. Overview The following chapters of this dissertation will serve to develop in greater detail the study outlined in this first chapter. Chapter II will present a review of related literature and previous research relevant to this study. In Chapter III the Experimental Design and Procedures will be discussed. Included in this Chapter will be a 10 discussion of the instrumentation and data collection methods used in this study. Chapter IV will present the analysis of the data and the interpretation of the results of that analysis. Finally, in Chapter V a discussion of the results and recommendations for future research will be presented. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE OVERVIEW The purpose of this cnapter is to provide a basic review of the literature that is relevant to this study. Included is a historical perspective of foster care and a presentation of the results of early research in the area of foster care. In addition, information regard- ing the effects of parental attitudes on child development is presented, as well as a review of previous research which has studied the efficacy of groups as a method to provide foster parent training. Finally, the results of the specific research concerning the training programs used in this study are included. Historical Perspective of Foster Care Services Foster family care is defined by the Child Welfare League of America as: . the child welfare service which provides substitute family care for a planned period for a child when his own family cannot care for him for a temporary or extended period, and when adoption is neither desireable nor possible." (Child Welfare League of America, 1959 p. 51) The use of substitute family care has been used in various forms for many years. Indenture was an early form of foster care that was used extensively in the 18th century. The Elizabethan Poor Laws provided for the apprenticing of dependent children until they had reached the age of 21 years. Indenture was recognized as a "business deal" from which the person accepting a poor child on indenture was expected to 11 12 receive from the child, a full equivalent in work for the expenses of his support, care, and teaching.“ (Thurstone, 1930, p. 10) Several factors led to the decline of indenture as a means of foster care. Indenture became less and less profitable as greater industrialization was realized and the production of crafts moved from the home to factories located within the community. One important event, the abolition of slavery, made it difficult to justify indenture as anything other than a bondage agreement (Kadushin, 1967). By the mid 1800's, New York City and other eastern cities found that a large population of vagrant and homeless children was living in the cities without proper parental supervision. These children had been abandoned by their parents. In an attempt to provide care for these children, a young minister by the name of Charles Loring Brace developed a distinctive approach. He literally "farmed the children out" in his "Placing Out Program." As secretary of the New York Childrens Aid Society, Brace appealed to Christian chairty and to the need for labor on the farm. It was felt that placement in a home, almost any home, would provide a better environment than the crowded, unstructured life of the city (Langsam, 1964). The Free Home Movement, as Brace's program was labeled, and foster care practices of that time are described by Hutchinson (1972): The Free Home Movement, with its exodus of children from the crowded eastern cities to the farms of the west, was unchallenged as a form of care for children. Social workers carried out the program with little conflict or guilt in the face of mass auctioneering of children to unknown foster parents. The rescuing of unknown children from their unknown parents was unquestioned. . . Those were the I3 days when the work homes for older children flourished and cheap labor for foster parents under the guise of giving a home to a homeless child was accepted as honorable. Child welfare in the past was appropriately child centered but without a knowledge of the child. It was not interested in his parent who usually became lost by way of a righteous and indignant separa- tion initiated by the worker. (p. 18) As Hutchinson (1972) pointed out, initially there was little criticism or questioning of the practices of Brace's program. However, at the National Prison Congress in 1876, accusations were focused on Brace's program. Prison officials felt that an inordinate amount of Brace's former wards were filling Midwestern Prisons. Brace refuted these accusations by conducting research, and the results of his research supported his stand that his former wards had made adequate adjustments. Brace's study, however, was considered biased and unscientific by his critics and thus served to stimulate further controversy (Wolins, 1967). In the late 1860's, the state of Massachusetts began to pay foster families for the maintenance of children who needed to be placed outside their home. Charles Birtwell, as Director of the Boston Children's Aid Society, began to look at each child as an individual. Each case was judged on its own merit, and child care became more diversified as a variety of forms of substitute care were developed. Birtwell developed systematic plans for studying foster home applicants and for the supervision of children once that child was placed. In many cases, Brace's approach led to "psuedo adoption." Birtwell's approach attempted to develop a system in which the child was returned ultimately to his parents (Kadushin, 1967). Wolins (1967) stated that few significant research ventures in foster care were undertaken until the late 1950's. He pointed to two 14 studies that made a significant contribution prior to 1950. Sophie Theis, in 1924, obtained data on 797 foster cases in an effort to determine their adjustment patterns. She found that 77.2 percent were "capable” persons, 11 percent were "harmless", and 12 percent were definitely "at odds with society." A study by Elias Trotzkey, in 1930, found that foster care and institutional care had positive qualities and could be useful for children who needed placement outside their home. The first major research work that looked at the problem of foster care was done by Henry Maas and Richard Engler (1959). This research was a large scale investigation of foster and adoptive care for children in nine different American communities with the case records of over 4,000 children being studied. Interviews with key figures in the community were conducted to obtain significant background data regarding the communities and their foster care and adoption policies. The results of the study indicated that a child averaged two to three foster placements per year and that most children received care from two to five years. Maas and Engler (1959) also found that the longer children were placed in foster care the less chance they had of ever leaving it. Approximately 50 percent of the children studied had parents who had no plans for the child's future. Foster children were found to be more often from minority groups, older, more handicapped and maladjusted than children who had been adopted. Joseph H. Reid of the Child Welfare League summarized the Maas and Engler study and suggested recommendations for future consideration and implementation. He wrote, 15 . . no one can read this material without coming to the conclusion that for a large number of children in foster care there are overwhelming deterrents to their becoming responsible, mature, adults capable of being good parents. These children for the most part, are denied the birthright of every American child--the right to a happy and secure childhood enabling them to make full use of their inherent capacity (Reid in Maas and Engler, 1959, p. 379). Thus, the quality of foster care services had been questioned as it never had been before. The study made professionals in the field begin to evaluate the services offered by their agencies. Reid (1959) went on to say that: Basic research is needed as to what best insures the emotional health of a child who is going to be in long term foster care. A concerted effort is also needed to discover. . . the kinds of foster parents who are able to provide a relatively endearing family life for children with emotional difficulties. . . We need to determine what services foster parents require in order to be more accepting of these children (Reid in Maas and Engler, 1959, p. 390). The Maas and Engler study (1959) indicated that foster parents needed to be a focus of research. Two important issues were raised by this study. What kinds of foster parents tend to provide a stable home environment that will be long lasting enough to help children with emotional difficulties? Secondly, what services are needed to help foster parents become more accepting of foster children? In 1958, David Fanshel began research that attempted to gather much needed descriptive data on foster parents and the various aspects of the foster parent role. Fanshel was the first to focus on foster parents' attitudes. He used the Parental Attitude Research Instrument to measure the child 16 rearing attitudes of a large foster parent population, and the results of his study indicated that foster mothers tended to be more authoritarian in their attitudes toward rearing children than the non-foster parent mothers who were used as the normative sample. The foster mothers appeared to score higher on the strictness scale than the normative sample, and they tended to score high on the suppression of aggression and suppression of sex scales. They also scored higher on the avoidance of communication scale than did the normative sample (Fanshel, 1966). Fanshel's use of a parental attitude measure led him to conclude that Child Welfare Workers needed to develop more interest and expertise in assessing the child rearing attitudes and behavior of the parental figures with whom they worked. Finally, he felt that the results of the study indicated that child rearing attitudes revealed by foster parents on an instrument such as the PARI were linked to their role behavior (Fanshel, 1966). In summary, the early forms of foster care were principally society oriented programs that tended to exploit children and ignore the children's individual needs. Birtwell and the Boston's Children's Aid Society developed child oriented programs and began to supervise and study individual foster care placements. Early research of foster care tended to focus on the adult adjustment of children who had been placed in foster care. The research of Maas and Engler (1959) indicated that children placed in foster care were placed in more than one foster home and that most placements were from two to five years in length. This research raised serious questions about the quality of foster care that children were receiving. Fanshel (1966) focused on foster parent 17 attitudes and found that some attitudes were linked to the role behavior of foster parents. Because of studies like Maas and Engler (1959) and Fanshel (1966), the Child Welfare Workers of America could no longer assume that all foster placements were without risk. These studies had shown that further research was needed to gain a greater depth of understanding of this system as a provider of rehabilitative services. The results of these studies challenged the Child Welfare Agencies of this country to develop foster care programs that promoted the social and emotional growth of the people it served. Parental Attitudes and Child Development I The purpose of foster care is to provide substitute family care for a planned period of time when a child's own family is unable to provide him with that care (Child Welfare League of America, 1959). Kline and Overstreet (1972) pointed out that agencies use foster care to meet two major objectives: The first objective is to provide individualized close substitute parental relationships for the child as a matrix for ego growth and superego development and as a model for family living. The second is to provide a family environment in which the child can learn social skills and techniques for living as a member of a community. (p. 223) Flanagan (1958) indicated that the hope is to have a foster home environment that is healthy, with foster parents who are mature and well functioning. Well functioning foster parents are described as those who can give affection and warmth along with appropriate 18 limits on behavior. In reviewing ten years of researcn in Parent-Child relation- ships, Walters and Stinnett (1971) state that: The research results converge in suggesting that parental acceptance and warmth are positively related to favorable emotional, social, and intellectual development of children and that extreme restiveness, authoritarianism, and punitiveness, without acceptance, warmth and love tend to be negatively related to a child's positive self- concept, emotional and social development. (p. 71) Becker (1964) found that love-oriented techniques of discipline tend to promote acceptance of self-responsibility, guilt, and related internalized reactions to transgression in children. He discovered that parents who promoted these behaviors in their child displayed four basic characteristics. The parents were warm, they provided a role model of controlled behavior, they had communication patterns that facilitated understanding between the parent and child and, finally, they initiated and terminated punishment in an appropriate manner. Baumrind (1967) found that children who displayed positive behavior in pre-school had parents who were more consistent, more loving, more supportive, and had the ability to communicate more clearly than the parents of children who were classified as discontent, with- drawn, and distrustful. The idea that parental warmth, acceptance, and sensitivity increases the likelihood of positive emotional and psychological development is well documented (Eg. Axline 1969, Moustakas 1953, Gordon 1972, Furgeson 197D, Stollak 1976). Research by Ambinder and 19 Sargent (1965) and Defries et a1. (1965) indicated that when these . factors are not present in fester home environments, poor adjustment on the part of the child tends to occur. Based upon their research of children in foster care, Fanshel and Shinn (1978) supported the Child Welfare League's standards for foster parents. They feel that foster parents would be able to give affection and care to a child, and should have the ability to be flexible in their expectations, attitudes, and behavior in relation to the needs of the child. Finally, foster parents should be able to accept the child and his relationship with his parents and agency personnel. These recommenda- tions appear to be consistent with the research discussed previously. The obvious task for the Child Welfare Agencies and the foster care departments of the Juvenile courts, then, is to develop programs that will promote and develop these attitudes and behaviors in foster parents. Group Training Methods The need for training programs to help the foster parent fulfill the caretaker role has been previously outlined in this work. This research compared two programs that were specifically designed to meet these training needs. Both programs were developed after group techniques were found to be viable methods for parental training. Group methods for training foster parents were used in the late 1950's. McCoy and Donahue (1961) discussed a program that used the group process to educate foster mothers. The format of this training was group discussion that focused on tepics such as the foster parent's relationship with the agency, the feelings of foster parents in 20 caring for children, development of the personality and the function of habits and use of discipline. The authors found that the group process promoted open and spontaneous discussion regarding the problems of foster care and that foster parents seemed to be free to discuss their concerns about their jobs when other foster parents were present. The foster mothers benefited from the group discussions in a variety of ways. First, they gained an understanding of the factors which contribute to a successful placement. Second, they saw that their problems were not unique and found some reassurance in knowing that other foster mothers had similar concerns. Finally, their roles as foster parents were clarified by the group discussion. The authors did feel that the attitudes of most foster mothers were only modified and seldom changed. Overall, they felt the group process was a valuable tool to improve foster care services. Kohn (1961) and Thomas (1961) found that the group process was a valuable aid to foster parents. They indicated that foster parents were able to derive reassurance, support and new knowledge from each other (Kohn, 1961). The group method also helped the foster parents 'identify more closely with the agency and increased the agency's ability to work closely with the foster parents (Thomas, 1961). Gross, Shuman and Magid (1978) found that group discussions among foster parents led to a valuable knowledge gain regarding developmental and behavioral management issues. They reported that the foster group was seen as an important source of information and support for other foster parents. The importance of foster parents helping other foster parents is further illustrated by Pedosuk and Ratcliffe (1979) in their report 21 on a Canadian Ministry of Human Resources Project that hired foster parents on a part-time basis as Foster Family Workers. The results of the project suggested that the Foster Family Workers increased communication between foster parents and the agency with whom they were affiliated, and that a reduction of misunderstandings and a heightening of the morale of foster parents occurred. Stone and Hunzeker (1975) reported a rapid acceleration of training programs for foster parents began in 1971 and were closely related to the foster parent association movement. As foster parent associations gathered strength, requests for educational opportunities increased. Many of the current foster parent training programs out- lined by the authors use a group format to educate the participants. One of the first research projects to measure parent education was done by Hereford (1963). He used group discussion to change parental attitudes and behaviors. Hereford felt that difficulties in child relationships were due to parental attitudes, and he hypothesized that if parent education were to be effective it was important that the educational program should focus on attitudinal change. The research revealed that parents who attended the discussion group series did show positive changes in their attitudes as measured by the Parent-Attitude Survey. Further, Hereford (1963) found that parents who attended these discussion groups not only changed their attitudes but changed their behaviors as well. When he looked at the groups, he found that the non-professional leaders did not prove to be a factor of any significant importance and concluded that the discussion method, per se, not the leader, was the crucial element involved. Based upon these results, he came to the conclusion that the discussion 22 group method was a powerful technique that could be used to change parental attitudes and behavior. Group methods were soon to be utilized effectively in a variety of parent training programs. Guerney (1964) introduced a technique of psychotherapy which used parents as theraputic agents with their own children. This technique, Filial Therapy, trained parents in groups of six or eight to lead play therapy sessions with their youngsters. These play sessions were modeled after client centered play therapy. In the initial stages of the program, the goal was to train parents in appropriate play therapy behaviors. These behaviors included empathic responding, limit setting, and allowing maximum self-direction. As the training progressed, the parents began to conduct play sessions in their own homes with their own children. These play sessions then became the focus of discussions at the parental group sessions. Finally, once these attitudes and behaviors had been learned, the focus of the parent groups was to generalize the child rearing issues beyond the play sessions. The results of research regarding Filial Therapy indicated that it was a powerful method for improving parent- child interactions and had a significant impact on children's behaviors, Guerney (1976). The effectiveness of parent participation in practicing specific interpersonal skills was demonstrated by Guerney (1964) and Guerney and Stover (1971). If new behaviors were to be learned by parents, then rehearsal of those behaviors was found to be important to the adoption and retention of those skills outside the group sessions. Carkhuff and Bierman (1970) found that through training significant and constructive gains were made in communication and 23 discrimination skills. The authors noted some important qualifications. They felt their study supported the proposition that "people learn what they practice," and they suggested that if behaviors between parent and child were to be altered then the training ought to provide situations where parents and children actually practice thoSe skills. The research data indicated that progress in certain behavioral areas was linked to the specific practice sessions involved in the training. General Principles of Learning and their Relationship to the Development of a Foster Parent Training Curriculum Previous research (Hereford, 1963; Guerney, 1964; Carkhuff and Bierman, 1970) has supported the use of a group format to train individuals in parenting skills. As important as the support and knowledge of other foster parents may be, the type of information and the method in which it is presented are equally important. Davis, Alexander, and Yelon (1974) set forth a list of general principles which promote an individual's ability and desire to learn. Several of these principles seem particularly relevant to parental training and deserve specific mention. The first principle, Meaningful- ness, suggests that individuals are more likely to learn things that are meaningful to them. The use of the second principle, Modeling, allows the individual to learn a new skill by watching and imitating an example of the desired behavior. The third principle, Open Communication, serves to enhance learning because the instructor's comments are open to the student's scrutiny and investigation. Two related principles, Active Appropriate Practice and Distributed Practice, suggest that learning is more likely to take place if the individual actively practices the desired skills and secondly, that active practice should be in 24 short intervals. Finally, Pleasant Conditions and Consequences (of the learning situation), are likely to enhance the individual's desire to learn. The authors indicated that these general principles could be used by an instructor to improve teaching methods and ought to be considered in the design of any learning system (Davis et a1. 1974). Gretchen Heinritz and Louise A. Frey in their publication, Foster Care: How to Develop an Educational Program for Staff or Foster Parents, have specifically stated principles that should be used as guidelines to establish an educational program for Foster Parents and Foster Care Staff. The authors list the following principles: 1. The educator's ability to organize content, teaching skill and the knowledge of the subject, the motivation of the learner, and the opportunity to apply what has been learned are the key factors in the success or failure of an educational experience. 2. The educator's responsibility is to be thoroughly familiar with the foster family care agency and system objectives, standards and the way these are actualized in the daily direct service activities and responsibilities of the learners... 3. The pre-planning by the educator with the learners and with the agency administrators is a key to stimulating and maintaining motivation of the learners, insuring the relevancy of the content and providing organizational support... for learners to put into practice what they have learned. 4. The starting point in a specific educational experience is discussion with the learners about their learning needs related to the specific responsibilities and tasks they carry in delivering foster family care services. 5. Adults learn best what they have been involved in identifying as relevant to carrying out their adult responsibilities. 6. Problem solving, discussion and engagement around issues, tasks or techniques of practice are appropriate methods of learning for adults. (Heinritz and Frey, 1975, p. 18) 25 Davis et a1. (1974) and Heinritz and Frey (1975) have stressed the importance of an individual being able to learn material that is relevant to that individual's role outside the specific learning situation. In an effort to gather information regarding meaningful educational content for foster parents, Heinritz and Frey (1975) consulted various sources (training course outlines, foster care training manuals and numerous publications). As a result, they provided a list of "Curriculum Resource Units" that they saw as being relevant to foster family care training. Those units that seem particularly related to foster parents were: 1. Growth and Development (Infancy-Adolescence) 2. Separation and Loss 3. Behavior 4. Family Systems 5. Community 6. Roles 7. Developmental and other Disabilities In summary, it appears that general principles can be applied to a variety of learning situations. Davis et a1. (1974) and Heinritz and Fry (1975) suggest several important principles. First, the educational program should be well planned and organized so that the material presented is relevant and meaningful for the participants. Second, open discussion of the material combined with practice can enhance learning. Third, it is important that the teacher have a thorough knowledge about the information presented. Also, modeling of desired outcome behaviors is seen as a powerful method to promote learning. The two specific training programs that were chosen for this research, Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) and the "Issues 26 in Fostering” class, were developed with the aforementioned principles in mind. Each program addressed issues that were relevant to foster parents. In addition, each program attempted to provide an atmosphere in which learning was enhanced and encouraged. The next section of this work will provide the reader with a historical perspective of each of these programs and present evaluative data generated from previous research on these programs. Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) In July of 1973, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, through its Office of Children and Youth, contracted with the Center for Human Services Development of the Pennsylvania State University to fund the Foster Parent Training Project. The project's two major objectives were: to prepare a program to train foster parents in skills that would make them more effective in dealing with their foster children, and to establish a training network of agency personnel or other people in the community who could continue to teach the training program to other foster parents. Dr. Louise Guerney, Associate Professor of Human Development in the College of Human Development, was the director of the project. The project was in full scale operation by December 1973 (Guerney, 1976). Guerney developed the Foster Parent Skills Training Program with some basic learning principles in mind. She discussed the basic philosophy of her approach when she stated: The intervention program designer, however, studies the behaviors of potential trainees in carrying out their role functions, identifies alternative behaviors that fit the criteria imposed by the problems and constraints of the role, and then defines these behaviors in terms 27 of skills which are required to perform role functions. He/she then proceeds to teach these skills into small teachable units and communicating them to students via sound learning principles. (Guerney, 1976, p. 8) The results of the initial pilot project were reported in the final Report of the Foster Parent Training Project. The pilot study consisted of 75 foster parents, 29 males and 46 females, with 25 husband and wife pairs from two Western Regional Counties in Pennsylvania. Six groups were formed. A matched control group of 57 foster parents from the same counties and agencies was used to help assess theprogram goal attainment of the training groups. Using the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire, Guerney (1976) found " ... that foster parents (who took the training) learned skills necessary to communicate with children in desirable and facilitative ways..." Another area of study dealt with the program's effect on parental attitudes of acceptance as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS). Guerney (1976) found that... " ... the average training post scores on the PPAS were significantly higher than their own pre means or control post means except in one of eight cases." These scores indicated a significant increase in the foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance. She further found that the feelings and autonomy subscales always yielded significant gains from pre to post in the training groups except for one. .Finally, the subjective responses of the participants indicated a strong satisfaction with the program. Seventy seven percent of the foster parents in the pilot project felt that the program helped them improve their relationship with foster children. 28 A second year evaluation of the Foster Parent Training Project, later renamed the Foster Care Systems Project, was prepared by Guerney, Wolfgang and Vogelsong. The evaluation was a follow-up of the first year evaluation of the project and looked at many of the same variables reported by Dr. Louise Guerney in her final report of the Foster Parent Training Project. The authors looked at the foster parents attitudes of parental acceptance and found that the participants still retained significant gains in acceptance of their foster children in comparison to their pretraining attitudes, even though there had been a significant decline between the post training scores and the seven month follow-up. The authors additionally noted that foster mothers appeared to maintain gains better than foster fathers. This report was consistent with Guerney (1976) who reported that women scored higher and increased more in parental acceptance scores than did the men. The second year evaluation used the Parenting Response Survey to assess the foster parents' ability to relate to foster children in problematical situations. Using an open ended format as well as a multiple choice format, the authors found that the use of reflective listening and parent messages increased significantly and that undesireable responses like non-acceptance and rejection of person behaviors declined significantly. Guerney et al (1978) concluded the evaluation by saying: The results... clearly indicate that these are favorable long-term effects to this program in terms of parenting skills, especially when a refresher program is used. The parents report they find the skills of the program useful and that they continue to use them in their relation- ships with their foster children. The overall findings lead us to believe that foster parents relate to foster children in different and more effective ways, and that these effects continue far beyond the conclusion of training. (pp. 78-79) 29 Foster Parent Training Project of the Eastern Michigan University The Foster Parent Training Project is a four-year project that is funded under a grant from the Center for the Study of Metropolitan Problems of the National Institute of Mental Health. The project was designed to develop an experimental program to teach parenting skills to foster parents, and was especially concerned with providing training to foster parents who worked with children who had special physical, mental or emotional needs. Besides providing training for foster parents, the project also had several additional goals. These goals were outlined by Ryan, Warren, and McFadden (1977): 1. to establish a self-supporting, ongoing, statewide training program available to all foster parents in Michigan, 2. to document and evaluate the procedures and results of establishing such a program so that agencies in other states might more easily and efficiently establish training programs, 3. to develop a set of training materials and guides that have been tested on a diverse group of foster parents, 4. to disseminate the projects procedures and materials... 5. to establish a group of trained specialized foster parents to serve children with special needs, recognized by their agencies as part of the agency team with a role in planning for the child, and receiving compensation for their services. (p. 10) The first classes of the project began in November of 1974. By the end of the 1974-1975 academic year, 260 foster parents had attended classes at six sites. Based upon the comments of the participants and professionals in the field, nine new courses were developed in an effort to meet the specific needs of foster parents. 30 During the 1977-78 academic year, the program had expanded to such a point that 407 foster parents had enrolled in 25 sections of the "Issues in Fostering" class. Overall, the number of foster parents in the program had grown to 1,439, and 18 separate courses had been developed (Ryan, 1978). The final evaluation of the Foster Parent Training Project is expected to include the analysis of the four areas of data. Two of these areas are of particular importance and are listed below: 1. Analysis of attendance records, re-enrollment statistics, and responses to direct questions about the usefulness of the classes by the foster parent trainees. 2. Analysis of changes in trainees' attitudes and knowledge demonstrated through changes in responses to questionnaires completed at the beginning and end of each eight week class. (Ryan et a1, 1977 p. 33) As of January of 1977, the analysis of the attendance and re-enrollment records of 968 trainees indicated that 44 percent of those that enrolled in the project's courses completed only the introductory "Issues in Fostering" class. Further analysis found that 26 percent of the total trainees took more than one class. Ten percent took a second class, and six percent participated in a third class. Only ten percent of the original 968 trainees took four or more classes which made them eligible for certification by the Foster Parent Training Project as a "Specialized Foster Parent." The two major factors that discouraged re-enrollment were the undesirable location of classes and, secondly, the classes were in conflict with other activities (Ryan et a1. 1977). 31 Participants were asked to evaluate the classes they attended. Of the 224 trainees who took the "Issues In Fostering" class, 75 percent found the class “Very interesting" and 23 percent found the class "somewhat interesting.“ When asked if taking the classes would help the trainees do a better job as a foster parent, 50 percent said training would help them do a "much better job," 33 percent said a "somewhat better job“ and 15 percent "about the same kind of job," (Ryan et a1. 1977). The Foster Parent Attitude Survey was the measure used to determine shifts in foster parent attitudes and knowledge gained by the foster parents. The measure was given prior to training and again at the end of training. In discussing the results of the Foster Parent Attitude Survey, Ryan gt 1. (1977) reported. Looking at those questions for the introductory class, (Issues in Fostering). that reflect attitudes toward the natural family... the data shows a large degree of change in the prefered direction on items dealing with understanding the child's feelings about being removed from his natural parents, his desire to spend time with them, and the importance of contact with the natural family. The trainees' attitudes about why children are removed when the child should return home and their own responsibilities in helping the child maintain relationships with the natural family are more ambivalent with many trainees moving both ways. p. 60 The authors concluded that the "analysis of these items demonstrates the extent to which the introductory class can help trainees recognize the importance of the natural child and also highlights the needs for additional classes... if trainees are to master techniques for actually facilitating interaction with the natural family" (Ryan et a1. 1977). 32 Summary As studies focused on the growth and development of children in foster care, researchers began to suggest that foster parents needed training to cope with the increasingly disturbed children who were entering foster care. Group methods of training, in which parents shared ideas, were found to be an effective way to teach parenting. Groups were also seen as a method of helping parents develop attitudes of parental warmth and acceptance which were seen as important to the healthy emotional and physical development of the child. As the needs of foster parents became more apparent, training programs were developed to meet those needs. The two training programs selected for this study were developed in an effort to meet the needs of foster parents, and the reported research suggests these programs have had some positive impact on their respective participants. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY w This chapter discusses the process through which the subjects and trainers were selected and assigned to the treatment and control groups. Information about the instruments employed and the specific characteristics of those instruments is included. The data collection and data analysis procedures used are also presented. Finally, the experimental design and procedures are discussed. Procedures Selection of the Sample The subjects for this study were licensed foster parents of Ingham County who were affiliated with either the Ingham County Probate Court, Family and Child Services, or Catholic Social Services. These foster parents had expressed a desire to be trained and were able to make a 10 to 12 week commitment to the training program. Foster parents who had participated in either of the specific training programs prior to the initiation of this research were not included in this study. The recruitment of the subjects was a joint effort of several agencies. Foster parent participation was solicited through the court newsletter, telephone contacts, letters of invitation, and through contacts in small group meetings. This researcher and personnel from the Ingham County Probate Court met with agency representatives from Catholic Social Services, Department of Social Services and Family Child Services to elicit the cooperation and participation of the foster parents 33 34 associated with those respective agencies. Assignment of Subjects to Groups The subjects who expressed an interest in training were randomly assigned to one of five groups. Foster parent couples were treated as an intact pair and were randomly assigned to one of the five groups. Each subject was asked to specify the nights he or she would be available to take the class. Once a subject was assigned to a specific training program, that subject was then randomly assigned to a particular class night. Initially, 76 subjects were assigned to one of 4 training groups and 20 subjects were assigned to the control group. Due to attrition, the data from 59 subjects was used in the final analysis. These subjects had completed the instruments and attended at least six class sessions. Table 3.1 presents the number of subjects lost due to attrition for the five groups. Table 3.1 Attrition of Subjects # of S's " and % of # and % lost to Group assigged "no shows" insufficient attend. Total FPSTP 18 2 11% 3 15. 6% 5 FPSTP 20 4 20% 4 20% 8 ISSUES 18 4 22% 1 6% 5 ISSUES 20 5 25% 2 10% 7 CONTROL 20 101 50% - 10 TOTAL 95 25 26% 10 IO. 4% 37238.5% 1. 10 control subjects failed to return the instruments. 2. 2 subjects were dropped due to incomplete data. The total number of subjects lost was 37. 35 Goals and Specific Outlines of Training The training programs selected for this research were specifically designed to meet the needs of foster parents. The Issues in Fostering (ISSUES) class used a general discussion format and the instructors strove to accomplish the goals outlined in the Issues in Fostering Parent Manual: 1. To determine what is the exact nature of the duties and responsibilities of foster parents. 2. To learn the duties and responsibilities of the other professionals with whom foster parents work. 3. To understand what brings children into care in order to be able to cooperate in planning for them. 4., To understand how children in care feel about their natural families, themselves, and their foster families. 5. To learn how to recognize the sympotoms of separation trauma and when a child's behavior means he needs extra help. 6. To develop plans to help foster children, their natural families and our own families deal with separation trauma. 7. To determine individual and family strengths in working with children. (Ryan, 1979) In contrast to the general discussion format of the ISSUES class, the Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) had structured class time and emphasized skill building. Each lesson required in class skill development practice and homework assignments related to the material presented in class. Dr. Louise Guerney (1975) outlined the goals of the program in the "Introduction" of The Foster Parent Training Manual. She stated: The Foster Parent Training Program offers specific practical skills to use with children in attempts to find new solutions to everyday problems... These parenting skills include: how to listen to your child and how to make it easier for him to listen to you; how to encourage your child to behave as you'd like; 36 how to set reasonable limits on your child's behavior; and how to plan ahead to prevent problems. In order to meet the stated goals of each program, the authors have outlined the content of their respective courses. The course outlines for each program are provided in the following paragraphs. The Issues in Fostering class was developed by the Foster Parent Training Project at Eastern Michigan University, under the direction of Patricia Ryan, and, is the first class in a series of approximately 19 separate courses offered by the Foster Parent Training Project. The Issues in Fostering class was divided into ten sessions. The content of those sessions is delineated below: Session 1 Introduction Session 2 What is a foster parent? Session 3 The peOple foster parents work with: The Child and his natural family Session 4 The people foster parents work with: The case- worker Session 5 The people foster parents work with: Other professionals Session 6 Separation Trauma: How it effects the Child Session 7 Separation Trauma: Impact on Normal Development Session 8 Separation Trauma: The Natural Family Session 9 Separation Trauma: Making and Implementing Plans Session 10 Fostering: A job for the whole family The material for the class was presented in a Foster Parent Manual that was given to each participant. The classes had a lecture- discussion format and were led by trained instructors. The second training program, The Foster Parent Skills Training Program, was prepared as part of the Foster Parent Training Project by 37 Dr. Louise Guerney of the Center for Human Services Development at The Pennsylvania State University. This program had been used extensively by the Department of Public Welfare in Pennsylvania to train foster parents. The course outline is as follows: Session 1 Special issues of foster children Session 2 Realistic Expectations Session 3 Reflective Listening Session 4 Reflective Listening 11 Session 5 Special issues for foster parents Session 6 Parent messages Session 7 Structuring Session 8 Reinforcement Session 9 Rules, Limits, and Consequences Session 10 Putting it all together The authors of these training programs have developed curricula that address areas that are of concern to foster parents. Both programs look at the special needs of foster parents. Additionally, the needs of the foster child are studied in each program. The ISSUES program included four sessions that focused on Separation Trauma. The FPSTP addressed that issue in one session and teaches specific parenting skills in other sessions. Each training method recognizes the importance of past fostering experience and relies on the interaction of foster parents to supplement the standard curriculum. Trainers The trainers for this study were individuals who possessed the experience and knowledge to effectively conduct training sessions. They were chosen to lead the groups for several important reasons. First, the 38 instructors had an intimate knowlege of the juvenile court system. Each of the four trainers had at least three years employment with the Ingham County Probate Court. Three of the four trainers had casework experience and the fourth trainer was a teacher in the court's detention facility. Second, these individuals expressed an interest in foster parent training and all had some experience in leading groups. Third, the trainers were selected because they were conscien- tious individuals who were dedicated to the idea of foster parent train- ing. The staff of the Foster Care Department endorsed the candidacy of each of the trainers. The staff felt that each candidate was qualified to lead the training groups. The qualifications of the trainer candidates were presented to representatives of the Eastern Michigan University Foster Parent Training Project and to the Foster Parent Training Program of Pennsylvania State University. The candidates were interviewed by a representative of Eastern Michigan University and were found to be qualified to teach the Issues in Fostering course. This researcher discussed the qualifications of all four candidates with Dr. Louise Guerney of Pennsylvania State University, and she indicated that the candiates possessed the skills needed to teach the Foster Parent Skills Training Program course. Once the candidates were accepted by both programs, they were randomly assigned to a particular training method. The candidates were then trained by recognized representatives of each program. Training and Supervision of the Issues in Fostering Trainers The training for the Issues in Fostering class was provided by an experienced instructor of the course. The instructor had been 39 approved by Eastern Michigan University as being qualified to lead the training for this research. The training focused on the basic philosophy of the class and outlined the major issues to be covered. The instructor provided the trainers with the essential information that was to be presented during each session. The trainers were alerted to typical situations that might arise during the presentation of a particular session, and they were also given informa- tion about effective instructional techniques. The training consisted of eight hours of instruction. The supervision for the Issues in Fostering trainers was provided by the same individual who conducted the initial training. The supervisor listened to audio tapes of the class sessions and used these tapes as a tool to guide and facilitate the instruction of these trainers. During the ten week training period, the trainers consulted with their supervisor by means of personal meetings and telephone contacts. They met with their supervisor three times during the ten week period and had three consultations by phone. Traininggand Supervision of the Foster Parent Skills Trainigg_Program Trainers The training for the Foster Parent Skills Training Program was provided by Child Care Systems Incorporated (CCSI) of State College, Pennsylvania. This agency is responsible for the training of instructors for the Foster Parent Skills Training Program. CCSI provided two instructors for the training sessions who were experienced in training individuals to lead the Foster Parent Skills Training Program. The training for the Foster Parent Skills Training Program was highly structured and consisted of thirty five hours of instruction. 40 The training was divided into two major segments. During the first segment, the CCSI instructors taught the course to the research trainers. This was done to acquaint the trainers with the course content and to allow the trainers to observe the techniques used by professionals to lead the class. In the second segment, the research trainers prepared lesson plans and taught the course to other trainers. This procedure allowed the research trainers to receive immediate feedback from the CCSI instructors. The supervision of the Foster Parent Skills Training Program trainers was done by telephone. Audio tapes of class sessions were sent to Dr. Louise Guerney who listened to the tapes and analyzed the course content and the instructional technique of the trainers. Super- visory contact was made by four conference calls spaced throughout the 10 week training period. Instrumentation This research was concerned about the effect these programs had on Parental Acceptance of Children, Sensitivity of Parents to children's needs, and general Foster Parents Attitudes. The instruments chosen for this research are discussed in this section. Included in the discussion is information about the individual characteristics of these instruments and the scoring methods employed in this research. Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) This research was concerned with the differences each training program had on parental attitudes of acceptance. The Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) was used to measure parental attitudes of acceptance. 41 Porter (1954) defined parental acceptance as: . feelings and behavior on the part of the parents which are characterized by unconditional love for the child, a recognition of the child as a person with feelings who has a right and a need to express those feelings, a value for the unique make-up of the child and a recognition of the child's need to differentiate and separate himself from his parents in order that he may become an autonomous individual. (p. 177) Non-acceptance was considered by Porter (1954) to include rejection, overprotection, and indulgence. The original PPAS consisted of a 40 item self-inventory type questionnaire which measured the four dimensions of acceptance as defined by Porter. Porter's research (1954) found that the subscale scores showed a significant relationship with the total score except in the dimension dealing with unconditional love. For the purposes of this research, the questions dealing with the unconditional love dimension were removed. This procedure was adopted by Guerney (1976) and appeared to have no adverse effect on the measure. The responses on the PPAS were scored from one to five, with a score of one representing low acceptance, and five representing high acceptance. Total scores than would have a range of 30 (low acceptance) to 150 (high acceptance). Reliability and Validity Data Porter (1954) used the split-half method to estimate the reliability of his measure. Porter stated, “A split-half reliability correlation of 0.766 raised by the Spearman Brown Prophecy formula to 0.865 was obtained on the acceptance scale" (p. 180). Regarding the stability of the instrument over time, Guerney (1976) reported: 42 The scores were remarkably stable for control groups in these analyses and in other studies as yet unpublished by Weener and D. Angelli. That indicates that taking the test the second time seems to make little difference in score. In general, the PPAS is an excellent instrument for measuring change due to treatment effected since changes do not seem to occur from extraneous variables. (p. 63) Porter (1954) seems to have made conscientious attempts at establishing the validity of his instrument. The methods of choosing the terms for the scale and the ratings of the responses by experts appeared to have established a certain degree of construct and content validity. He stated: While the validity of the parental acceptance scale could not be stated in quantitative terms, it rested its case on the following factors which may be regarded as an inferential basis for judging roughly the validity of the scale: the method used for selecting the test items and responses, the agreement of the judges as to the ranking of the responses of each item, and the methods used to eliminate factors which contribute to unreliability in tests. (p. 180) Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC) (Appendix A) The STC Questionnaire used in this research consisted of 10 items that were designed to study foster parent responses to children in problem situations. Five items (1, 2, 4, 9, 10) were adOpted from Dr. Gary Stollak's Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire, and five items (3, 5, 6, 7, 8) were created specifically for this research by the author in conjunction with Dr. Gary Stollak and members of the Ingham County Foster Care Department. The foster parents were asked to write down the exact words or actions they would use to respond to the child in the situation described in a particular STC item. 43 Reliability Data The STC Questionnaire has been used in a variety of research projects. (Eg. Stollak et al., 1973; Kallman and Stollak, 1974; Guerney, 1976; Johnson, 1977). These researchers have reported high inter-rater reliabilities averaging above 90 percent agreement. Johnson (1977) and Guerney (1976) have used the STC in foster parent research and found it to be an effective instrument to differentiate between effective and ineffective responses. Johnson (1977) also found the instrument to be stable over time. Scoringgof the STC Questionnaire The STC Questionnaires were rated by three trained raters. The raters were professionals who worked in counseling related fields and were familiar with the principals of reflective listening and Gordon's "Parent Effectiveness Training." The raters received four hours of training and were taught to recognize "effective" and "ineffect- ive" responses. Each item of the STC questionnaires was scored independently by all three raters. The STC questionnaires were randomly assigned to each rater. The STC questionnaires were rated using a method similar to the procedure used by Kallman and Stollak (1974). Responses on the STC were considered “effective" behaviors when statement included: 1. A reflection of the child's feelings, needs or wishes. 2. A statement of acceptance of the validity of the child's feelings, needs, and wishes. 3. A statement of the adult's own feelings. 4. A provision of alternate routes of present expression of the child's feelings. 5. Providing alternate routes of future expression of the child's feelings. 44 6. An attempt to obtain more information regarding a child's feelings. 7. An attempt to obtain more information regarding child behavior. The "ineffective" response categories consisted of nine of what Gordon (1972) called the “Typical Twelve" responses often used by parents. "Ineffective" responses included statements that were: 1. Ordering, Directing, Commanding. 2. Warning, Admonishing, Threatening. 3. Preaching, Moralizing, Exhorting. 4. Providing Answers or Solutions, Advising, Giving Logical Arguments, Lecturing, Teaching. 5. Name-calling, Ridiculing, Shaming. 6. Interpreting, Analyzing, Diagnosing. 7. Supporting, Reassuring, Sympathizing. 8. Questioning, Probing, Interrogating. 9. Ignoring, Withdrawing, Distracting. The raters could score more than one response category for each situation, but a response category could only be scored once on any STC item. Prior to the commencement of the final rating four STC questionnaires were scored independently by each rater and a 90.3% agreement rate was atained. Agreement was defined as occuring when two out of three raters scored the same response category for any STC item. A detailed explanation of the rating system for the STC is provided in Appendix A. The final analysis of the STC was based upon the percentage of the "effective" responses utilized by the subjects. Individual analyses on the 16 response categories were also conducted in order to describe the source of any differences that may have arisen. 45 Foster Parent Attitude Survey The Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) was developed by the Foster Parent Training Project of Eastern Michigan University. It is a paper and pencil instrument that consists of 23 statements. The respondent had the option of selecting one of four categories that demonstrated his or her level of agreement or level of disagreement with the given statement. The instrument included information that was relevant to foster care and contained statements about information that was covered in the Issues in Fostering class. The Scoring of the FPAS The scoring of the FPAS was accomplished by assigning one point for each response which coincided with the "preferred" answer and zero points for those responses which did not agree with the "preferred" answer. "Preferred“ answers were those answers which represented the attitudes and cognitive concepts that were consistent with the Issues in Fostering class. Reliability and Validity Data of the FPAS The FPAS has not had widespread use outside of the Foster Parent Training Project of Eastern Michigan University. Therefore, few research projects have used this instrument and little research data is available regarding the validity or other characteristics of the FPAS. Other Instrumentation Foster Parent's Profile Questionnaire (Appendix B) The Foster Parent's Profile Questionnaire was used to gather demographic data on the individual foster parents of the research project. 46 The data from the instrument yielded information about a subject's level of education, sex, years served as a foster parent and other descriptive data. Foster Parent Instrument For Self-Reported Problem Areas (Appendix C) This research was concerned about what effects the training programs might have on a foster parent's ability to solve problems that arise during the delivery of foster care services. The Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problem Areas was developed to collect information about problems that foster parents encountered. The subjects of the study were asked to report specific problems they encountered in the following areas: 1. Problems with agency representatives 2. Problems with natural parents 3 Problems with certain child behaviors 4. Problems of separation 5. Problems of communication between you (the foster parent) and your foster child 6. Problems involving the legal system or agency policies 7. Additional problems Before the training began, the foster parents listed as many problems as they had for each specific problem area. After five weeks of training, the foster parents were asked if there had been a change in the status of the previously reported problem, and they were also requested to comment on the cause of change, if a change did occur. At the end of the five week period, the foster parents were given the opportunity to list new problems that had arisen since the initiation of training. Finally, at the completion of training, 47 all the problems the foster parents had listed were returned to them. They were then asked to comment on the status of those previously cited problems and were questioned as to what factors may have led to the resolution of those problems. The responses were then analyzed in an effort to discover what effect the training may have had on foster parents' ability to resolve those problems. Foster Parent Contact Sheet (Appendix D) In an effort to understand the lines of communication the foster parents used to facilitate the resolution of problems, a Foster Parent Contact Sheet was developed. Each foster parent was given a packet of 10 contact sheets, one for each week of training. The foster parents were instructed to log their contacts whenever they sought help from others. The contact sheets provided information regarding: 1. Number of attempts to establish contact 2. Person contacted 3. Specific nature of the problem 4. Results of the Contact The results of the contact sheets were studied to provide descriptive data that would aid in the understanding of the communication patterns of the foster parents in this study. Foster Parent Program Evaluation Questionnaire (FPPEQ) (Appendix_§) The FPPEQ was developed to gather descriptive data regarding the participants' impressions of the specific training programs they had received. The responses were then studied in an effort to note any similarities or differences that might have existed between the training groups. 48 Data Collection for Training Groups The data for this research project was collected on three separate occasions. First, the pretest data for the subjects in the training groups was collected on the first night of training. Each participant was given the following instruments to complete: 1. Porter Parental Acceptance Scale 2. Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire 3. Foster Parent Attitude Survey 4. Foster Parent's Self-Reported Problem Areas 5. Foster Parent Profile Questionnaire (one per couple) At the first session, a packet of Foster Parent Contact Sheets was also given to each participant. The subjects completed the five instruments and then attended the first class of their assigned training programs. After five weeks of training, the foster parents were required to respond to specific questions about their Self-Reported Problems. The subjects were also requested to list any new problems that had arisen since the beginning of training. The posttest data was collected for the subjects receiving training on the eleventh week of the research project. For three of the four training groups, the data collection occurred one week after training. Due to the illness of the group leader and a majority of participants during the fourth week, the training for the fourth group was extended one week and the data was collected the evening of the participant's final class. Data Collection for the Control Group The control group data was sent through the mail one week prior to the initiation of training for the other groups. The control 49 group subjects were sent the instruments with written instructions and asked to complete and return the forms within a week. A phone number was supplied if any of the foster parents had questions regarding the completion of the instruments. A stamped and addressed envelope was enclosed in the packet so that the return of the information would be facilitated. Stamped and addressed envelopes were also included for the Foster Parent Contact Sheets. These sheets were to be returned on a weekly basis. After five weeks, a second mailing was sent to the control group. A letter thanking them for their cooperation was included as well as a request to update the information on the Self-Reported Problem Areas Instrument. After ten weeks, the posttest instruments were sent to the control group with instructions to return the instruments within a week. Phone contacts were made to insure the return of the instruments. Research Questions This research compared two methods of training foster parents that have been used extensively by child welfare agencies. The basic research questions focused on the differential effects these two training methods had on the variables of Parental Acceptance, Parental Sensitivity to Children and general Foster Parent Attitudes. Specifically, the research questions for this study were: Question 1 Did the subjects of the two training methods differ after training on Attitudes of Parental Acceptance, as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale? Question 2 Did the subjects of the two different training methods differ after training on Sensitivity to children as measured by the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire? 50 Question 3 Did the subjects of the two training methods differ after training on general Foster Parent Attitudes as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey? Question 4 Did the subjects of the two training methods differ after training from the subjects of the control group on attitudes of Parental Acceptance, as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale? Question 5 Did the subjects of the two training methods differ after training from the subjects of the control group on Sensitivity to Children as measured by the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire? Question 6 Did the subjects of the two training methods differ after training from the subjects of the control group on general Foster Parent Attitudes as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey? Research Hypotheses The previous research of these training programs had never included a comparison of either one of these programs with another established training method. Since it was felt that the two programs would have some impact on the dependent variables and that the direction of that impact was unknown, the three research hypotheses, pertaining to the comparison of training methods, were stated in the null form. The hypotheses which were tested are as follows: Hypothesis 1: There will be no difference on Parental Acceptance Scores between the ISSUES and the FPSTP training programs as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. Hypothesis 2: There will be no difference on Sensitivity to Children Scores between the ISSUES and the FPSTP training programs as measured by the STC Questionnaire. Hypothesis 3: There will be no difference on general Foster Parent Attitude Scores between the ISSUES and the FPSTP programs as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey. 51 The three remaining hypotheses were stated directionally as it was felt that the two training methods would have significantly more impact on the dependent variables than the control group. These hypotheses were stated as follows: Hypothesis 4: The Parental Acceptance Scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training groups will be higher than the Parental Acceptance Scores of the Control group as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. Hypothesis 5: The Sensitivity to Children Scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training programs will reflect more "effective" responses to children as compared to the control group. Hypothesis 6: The general foster parent attitude scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training groups will be higher than the foster parent attitude scores of the control group as measured by Foster Parent Attitude Survey. Research Design This study employed a Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of five groups. There were four training groups and one no treatment control group. Two of the four training groups received the Foster Parent Skills Training Program (FPSTP) curriculum, and two groups received the Issues in Fostering (ISSUES) curriculum. The specific design for this research is presented in Figure 3.1. X1 = Foster Parent Skills Training Program Curriculum X2 = Issues in Fostering Curriculum X3 = No treatment control group 01 - 02 = Pretest and Posttest for FPSTP curriculum 03 - 04 = Pretest and Posttest for ISSUES curriculum O5 - 06 = Pretest and Posttest for control group R = Random assignment of Subjects Figure 3.1. Research Design A total of 23 subjects were given the FPSTP course and 26 subjects received the ISSUES course. Ten subjects were in the no treatment control group. Design Over Measures The five groups were tested independently on three dependent variables. The dependent variables for this study were: 1. Attitudes of Parental Acceptance--measured by Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) which is a paper and pencil instrument with 30 multiple choice items. The PPAS yields an overall rating of parental acceptance. 2. Foster Parent Attitudes--measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS). This paper and pencil test measures foster parent attitudes by assessing respondents level of agreement or diagreement with 23 statements. 53 3. Sensitivity to Childrens Needs--measured by a form of the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC). This lO-item paper and pencil instrument measured a subject's ability to formulate written responses to children in hypothetical need arousing situations. The specific design for the dependent measures is illustrated in Figure 3.2 Measures Pretests Posttests Curriculum Type S s M1 M21 M3 M1 M2 M3' FPSTP n=12 FPSTP n=ll ISSUES n=13 ISSUES n=13 CONTROL n=lO Legend: M1 = Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) M 2 Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) M 3 Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC) Figure 3.2. Research Design Over Measures Data Analysis The six research hypotheses were grouped by the three dependent measures. Planned comparisons within the three levels of the curriculum variable were used for each dependent measure. The first planned comparison sought to discover the differences between the ISSUES and FPSTP training group scores on each dependent measure. The second 54 planned comparison sought to discover the differences between the combined training group scores and the control group scores on each dependent measure. The relationship between the pretest and posttest scores on each dependent measure was examined. Regression analyses were then employed to determine if the inclusion of the pretests as covariates was warranted. The results of the regression analyses indicated that the inclusion of the pretest was warranted in all three cases and a univariate analysis of covariance procedure was used to test the research hypotheses. Supplementary Analygjs A major concern of this research was to evaluate the process of learning that had occurred within the research groups. Analyses of the differences between the pretest and posttest scores were made in an effort to understand the treatment by time effects on the dependent measures. A univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures procedure was utilized to test these effects. A multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures procedure was used for the 16 response categories on the STC Questionnaire. Data regarding foster parent contacts and self-reported problems was also collected and evaluated. Finally, the foster parents' evaluations of the training programs were studied and descriptive statistics were used to report the results. Summary This study compared the effects the ISSUES and FPSTP training methods had on the foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance, sensitivity to children, and general foster parent attitudes. A pretest- 55 posttest control group design was used. The subjects were foster parents who volunteered for training and had not previously received formalized training from either of these programs. The subjects and trainers were randomly assigned to treatments. The research trainers received formal training from authorized representatives of each training program. Data were collected at three points: pretest, midpoint, and posttest. A univariate analysis of covariance was used to test the six research hypotheses. Supplementary analyses were also utilized to study the process of change within the three research groups. The results of these analyses will be presented in Chapter IV. CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE DATA CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OVERVIEW An analysis of the data is presented in this chapter. The hypotheses presented in Chapter III are grouped by dependent variables. The research hypotheses were tested using a univariate analysis of covariance design. Supplementary analyses were run in an effort to provide additional information about the data. Included in the supplementary analyses was data about treatment by time effects on the dependent variables and descriptive information about foster parent contacts, self-reported problems, and reactions to training. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample A total of 59 foster parents (40 women and 19 men) participated in this study. Forty-nine of the subjects received formalized foster parent training and ten were randomly assigned to a no treatment control group. The ages of the foster parents ranged from 24 years of age to 65 years of age. Seventy-three percent of all the subjects were between the ages of 29 and 49 years. The average age of the participants was 39.7 years. The vast majority (85.0 percent) of the foster parents affiliated with Ingham County Probate Court are White; 10.0 percent are Black, and 3.3 percent Spanish American. The racial composition of this study appeared to be representative of the general population. Table 4.1 presents the racial composition of subjects in this study. 56 57 Table 4.1 Racial Composition of Subjects Race # of Subjects Percent of Sample White 49 83.1 Black 5 8.5 Spanish American 3 5.1 Native American 1 1.7 Other 1 1.7 The educational levels of the participants ranged from less than 7th grade to the graduate degree level. Nearly 60 percent of the subjects had a High School degree or had taken some college courses, and 18.6 percent had received a college degree. The breakdown of educational levels for the subjects is presented in Table 4.2. Table 4.2 Educational Level Of Subjects Level # of Subjects Percent of Sample Less than 7th Grade 1 1.7 Completed 7th to 9th Grades 1 1.7 Some High School . 10 16.9 High School Grad 21 35.6 Some College 14 23.7 College Degree 11 18.6 Graduate Degree 1 1.7 58 The years Of service as foster parents varied greatly. The years spent as a foster parent ranged from one to thirty-five years. The average number of years for the 59 subjects was 5.8 years. Forty-three, or 73 percent, Of all the foster parents had 6 years or less experience. Table 4.3 offers a breakdown of the foster parents' years of service. Tab1e 4.3 Years of Service as Foster Parents Range in Years # of Subjects Percent Of Sample 1- 3 31 52.6 4- 6 12 20.4 7- 9 5 8.5 10-13 7 11.8 25-35 4 6.8 Hypotheses Testing The tests of the research hypotheses were grouped by the instruments that measured the three dependent variables in this study. Hypotheses one and four concern the parental acceptance scores as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS). Hypotheses two and five deal with sensitivity to children scores as measured by the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC). The remaining hypotheses, three and six, pertain to foster parent attitudes as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS). 59 Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS) Hypothesis 1: There will be no difference on Parental Acceptance Scores between the ISSUES and the FPSTP training programs as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. Hypothesis 4: The Parental Acceptance Scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training groups will be higher than the Parental Acceptance Scores of the control group as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. A univariate analysis of covariance with planned comparisons was used to test these hypotheses. The relationship between the Porter Pretest and Porter Posttest was examined and a regression analysis was employed to determine whether the inclusion of the pretest as a-covariate was warranted. The results of the regression analysis indicated that there was a significant relationship (Multiple R = .67, ‘5 = 43.61, py< .0001) between the pretest and posttest on the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. As a result, a covariate adjustment was utilized. A .05 alpha level for treatment effects was set for each of these hypotheses. The results of the tests are presented in Table 4.4. Table 4.4 Summary of Univariate Analysis of Covariance for the Tests of Hypotheses One and Four (PPAS) Source of ' Degrees of Variation Freedom F P ISSUES vs. FPSTP 1,55 2.22 .142 ISSUES and FPSTP vs. CONTROL 1,55 .45 .503 60 The results indicated that the null hypotheses of no differences between the training groups cannot be rejected. Hypothesis four predicted that the training groups scores on the PPAS would be higher than the control group. However, no significant differences were found. In sunnmry, no significant differences were found on the PPAS between the training groups or between the training groups and the control group. Sensitivity to Children Questionnairey(STC) Hypothesis 2: There will be no difference on Sensitivity to Children Scores between the ISSUES and FPSTP training programs as measured by the STC Questionnaire. Hyppthesis 5: The Sensitivity to Children Scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training programs will reflect more "effective" responses to children as compared to the control group. A univariate analysis of covariance with planned comparisons procedure was used to test these hypotheses. The relationship between the percentage of "effective" responses on the STC pretest and posttest was examined, and a regression analysis was employed to determine whether the inclusion of the pretest as a covariate was justified. The results of the regression analysis indicated that a significant relationship (Multiple R = .50, F = 16.97, p < .0002) between the "effective" scores did exist between the pretest and posttest. The use of the pretest scores as a covariate was warranted and was utilized in the analysis. An alpha level of .05 was used for these tests. Table 4.5 presents the results of the univariate tests. 61 Table 4.5 Summary of Univariate Analysis of Covariance for the Tests of Hypotheses Two and Five (STC). Source of Degrees of Variance Freedom F P ISSUES vs. FPSTP 1,52 14.73 .0004 ISSUES and FPSTP vs. CONTROL 1,52 .49 . 489 The results of the univariate analysis indicated that a significant difference existed between the ISSUES and FPSTP groups (F = 14.73, p < .0004). To understand the nature of difference between the training groups, an examination of the percentage of "effective" responses on the pretest and posttest is necessary. Table 4.6 presents the pretest and posttest means of the STC. Table 4.6 Pretest and Posttest Means of "Effective" Responses of Training Groups and Control Group GROUP PRETTEST POSTTEST ISSUES 28.76% 24.97% FPSTP 23.55% 42.03% CONTROL 38.05% 35.79% The mean differences would indicate that on average the FPSTP subjects increased their usage of "effective" responses by 18.48 percent. In that same period of time, the ISSUES subjects on average used 3.79 percent less "effective" responses. The results indicated that the FPSTP increased their usage of "effective" responses significantly over the ISSUES class and tended to use an "effective" response 42.03 percent of the time. 62 Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS) Hypothesis 3: There will be no difference on general foster parent attitude scores between the ISSUES and FPSTP programs as measured by the FPAS. Hypothesis 6: The general foster parent attitude scores of the ISSUES and FPSTP training groups will be higher than the foster parent attitude scores of the control group as measured by the FPAS. These hypotheses were tested using a univariate analysis of covariance with planned comparisons. The relationship between the pretest and posttest on the FPAS was examined. The regression analysis indicated a significant relationship (Multiple R .47, f_= 15.23 p_< .0003) and that the use of the pretest as a covariate was warranted. A .05 alpha level for treatment effects was set for these hypotheses. The results of these tests are presented in Table 4.7. Table 4.7 Summary of Univariate Analysis of Covariance for the Tests of Hypotheses Three and Six (FPAS) Source of Degrees of Variance Freedom F-ratio p ISSUES vs. FPSTP 1,55 .00 .952 ISSUES and FPSTP vs. CONTROL 1,55 .40 .529 The results indicated that the null hypothesis of no differences between the training groups cannot be rejected. Hypothesis five predicted that the training groups would score higher on the FPAS than the control group. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the training groups and the control group. In summary, 63 no significant differences on the FPAS were found between the training groups or between the training groups and the control group. Supplementary Analysis Treatment by Time Effect on PPAS A univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures model was used to test the effects treatment had on the dependent variables over time. Table 4.8 presents the mean Pretest and Posttest scores for the FPSTP, ISSUES, and control groups on the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. Table 4.8 Mean Scores of PPAS Pretest and Posttest for the ISSUES, FPSTP, and Control Groups GROUP PRETEST POSTTEST FPSTP 111.78 119.74 ISSUES 117.00 119.35 CONTROL 118.90 120.20 The results of the univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures are presented in Table 4.9 64 Table 4.9 Univariate Tests for Treatment By Time Effects on the PPAS SOURCE OF DEGREES OF VARIANCE FREEDOM F .3 ISSUES vs. FPSTP 5,52 4.48 .039 TRAINING vs. CONTROL 5,52 1.31 .257 The results indicated that a significant difference did exist between the ISSUES and FPSTP groups over time. No significant difference was found between the training groups and the control group over time. The significant difference found between the training groups can be clarified by looking at the difference between the pretest and posttest means of the training groups found in Table 4.8. The difference scores would indicate that the FPSTP subjects increased on average 7.96 points for a 7.1 percent increase as compared to the ISSUES subjects who averaged a 2.35 point or 2.0 percent gain. The results would suggest that the FPSTP subjects gained more in the area of Parental Acceptance than the ISSUES subjects. Treatment by Time Effect on FPAS A univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures design was used to test the treatment by time effects on the FPAS. Table 4.10 presents the group mean scores on the FPAS pretest and posttest. 65 Table 4.10 Mean Scores of FPAS Pretest and Posttest for the ISSUES, FPSTP, and Control Groups GROUP PRETEST POSTTEST FPSTP 16.57 17.52 ISSUES 17.12 17.81 CONTROL 17.50 17.50 The tests for the univariate analysis of variance for reported measures design for the FPAS are presented in Table 4.11. Table 4.11 Univariate Tests for Treatment by Time Effects on the FPAS SOURCE OF DEGREES 0F VARIANCE. FREEDOM F 'p ISSUES vs. FPSTP 5,52 .14 .710 TRAINING vs. CONTROL 5,52 .91 .344 NO significant differences were found on the FPAS over time. In summary, the scores on the FPAS did not change significantly in the 10 week training period. The high pretest average of all groups suggests that a "ceiling effect" may have occurred. Treatment By Time Effect on the STC A multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures design was used to test the treatment by time effects on the STC. The results of the multivariate tests are presented in Table 4.12. 66 Table 4.12 Multivariate Tests for Treatment By Time Effects on the STC SOURCE OF DEGREES OF VARIANCE FREEDOM f. p ISSUES vs. FPSTP 16,38 2.67 .007 TRAINING vs. CONTROL 16,38 .83 .647 NO significant difference was found between the training and control groups on the STC. A significant difference was found between the ISSUES and FPSTP groups. In an effort to discover the source of the difference that might exist between the two training groups, a univariate analysis of variance model was used for each of the 16 response categories of the STC. Because 16 separate tests were to be conducted, an alpha level of .003 was set for each test. This method of dividing the alpha level controls for the overall experimental Type I error rate. The results of these tests for the training groups are presented in Table 4.13. 67 Table 4.13 Univariate Tests for Treatment By Time Effects on the 16 Response Categories of the STC SOURCE OF DEGREES OF, VARIANCE FREEDOM f .p 1) Ordering 1,53 3.71 . 060 2) Threatening 1,53 1.75 . 191 3) Preaching 1,53 .10 . 748 4) Lecturing 1,53 5.46 . 023 5) Shaming 1,53 .17 . 679 6) Analyzing 1,53 1.02 . 317 7) Supporting 1,53 .63 . 430 8) Probing 1,53 .02 . 893 9) Ignorning 1,53 .38 . 543 10) Reflection of Child's Feeling 1,53 20.34 .0001* ll) Acceptance of Child's Feelings 1,53 .03 . 857 12) Expression of Adult's Own Feelings 1,53 .20 . 903 13) Providing Alternate Routes of Present Expression of Child's Feelings' 1,53 .40 . 532 14) Providing Alternate Routes of Future Expression of the Child's Feelings 1,53 2.10 . 153 15) Attempt to Gain More Information Regarding: Child's Feelings 1,53 .71 . 402 16) Attempt to Gain More Information Regarding: Child's Behavior 1,53 .15 . 704 *Significant at alpha level .003 68 The results indicate that only Reflection of the Child's Feelings category was significant (p < .0001). Examination of the pretest and posttest means of reflection will clarify the nature of change that occurred. The pretest and posttest means for Reflection are provided in Table 4.14. Table 4.14 Pretest and Posttest Mean Scores of the Reflection Category for the ISSUES, FPSTP, and CONTROL Group GROUPS PRETEST POSTTEST ISSUES 1.99% 2.70% FPSTP 1.67% 19.32% CONTROL 2.44% 2.8 % The results indicated that the FPSTP group on average increased its use of Reflection by 17.7 percent Of total possible responses, while the ISSUES subjects averaged an increase of only 0.71 percent. PPAS, FPAS, and STC by Demographic Variables In an attempt to discover additional information about the nature of change over time, an analysis of variance design was used to analyze the difference scores on the PPAS, FPAS and STC when grouped by certain demographic variables. Four demographic variables were studied. These variables were: (1) participant's age, (2) sex, (3) edu- cational level, and (4) years spent as a foster parent. The results of the separate analyses did not indicate any significant differences on these demographic variables for any of the three instruments. These results would suggest that any differences on these instruments were not confounded by these particular demographic variables. The results of 69 these analyses are presented in Appendix F. Self-Reported Problem Areas The foster parents in the training and control groups were asked during the fifth week of training if any change had occurred in the status of the problems that they had reported on the first night of data collection. Table 4.15 presents the responses of the subjects regarding their previously listed problems. 70 F ANm.NN VNN ANN.__VN GN somezou m_ ANo.eo vow ANo.GNvme mN_ mmsmmN N ANG.NN VNN AN¢._NVPN Na apmau msm;am N ANo.mm v__ ANo.m¢VN ON Newaa u_wzu AN o “No.oo_vN ANo.o vo N somhzoo N_ ANo.om v4_ ANo.omV¢_ NN mmsmmH mbcmcaa m ANN.GG So. ANN.NNVm m_ Nemaa _mcspaz AN _ ANO.ON SN AN0.0NVN o_ somhzou _ ANN._N SN, ANN.N_VG NN mmammN ma>_pmucamacaam N AN4.GN VN_ ANG.N_VN NN NNWNL Nucma< A_ QN>SO>ZN wazos oz oz mm> mzNSNONN zmcmm ANN.N VF ANN.N VN ANm.mNVF_ ANN.NNVOP AN¢.NNVG _N sewed 5_P;u .N ANm.o_vm ANN.OPVN AN4.N v_ ANN.oNvG ANN.mmvo. NN muammu magmaoa ANo.o vo ANm.oove_ AN¢.NFVe ANN._Nvm ANo.o yo NN sewed P525352 .N ANN.N VN ANm.NPvN ANo.vam ANO.NNVG ANN.NNVN NN mmzmmH mm>_paucamacamm ANo.o No ANN._NVN ANG.NFVN ANN.NNVN ANN._NVN NN sewed sucam< .P AFFENG Emumow apm; nmapm; umapm; aFm; mmgm Ema Ensues; mwg< Empnoga mgg saw: o: mm; mcwcwmgu mcwcwmgp 0: mm: mempnoca acmcwmgh vm>~o>cw mcwcwmcu mcwcwmgp mo * smflmwumpwm“ mumwxm Pprum EanoEa mpmem Emmcop o: Empnoca ~muoh mo mucaom mxmmz o_ No new mcu an mucmsma Emumod we mEmFQoLa umucoqmmILme m—.¢ m—nmh 74 Problems With Agency Representatives A total of 46 problems were listed in this area. Of the 22 problems listed by the FPSTP subjects, 14, or 63.6 percent, of the responses indicated that training was no help in solving problems in this area. However, in 12, or 50.0 percent, of the problems listed by the ISSUES subjects, training was judged to be helpful in solving problems. The results would suggest that the ISSUES curriculum seems to provide information or skills that help the foster parents work through problems that may arise with agency representatives. Problems With Natural Parents Fifty-two problems dealing with natural parents were reported by foster parents in this study. This was the second largest problem area of the seven areas listed, and 60.9 percent of the FPSTP problems and 65.5 percent of the ISSUES problems were reported as not being helped by training. It appears that in this study neither program was particularly effective in helping the foster parents solve problems in this area. Problems With Child Behaviors The subjects of the study reported 61 problems in this specific area. This is the largest number of problems for any area. The FPSTP subjects reported that training was helpful in 67.8 percent of the problems. The problems of the ISSUES subjects were helped in only 16.6 percent of the cases, and in 76.7 percent of the problems the ISSUES subjects did not feel the training was helpful. The responses of the FPSTP subjects indicated that the training was helpful in this area, while the ISSUES subjects found the training to be of little help in 75 solving problems of child behavior. Problems With Separation A total of 29 problems were reported in this area. In 41.1 percent of the FPSTP problems and 25.0 percent of the ISSUES problems, the training was judged to be of some help. However, for the majority of problems in both groups, 52.0 percent for the FPSTP group and 75.0 percent of the ISSUES group, the training was judged as not being helpful. Problems With Communication The subjects in both groups reported a total of 26 problems with communication. The FPSTP subjects reported that 78.6 percent of their problems were helped by training, while only 16.7 percent of the ISSUES problems were reported as being helped. The large difference in percentage between the two groups suggested that the FPSTP training provides more skills in dealing with communication problems than does the ISSUES program. Problems With the Legal System Twenty-eight problems were reported by the foster parents' in this area. In 60.0 percent of the FPSTP problems and 77.8 percent of the ISSUES problems, training was not seen as helpful. It does not appear from these results that either program had a substantial effect on problems in this area. Additional Problems A total of 15 problems were listed in this area. Six of the seven, or 85.7 percent, of the FPSTP problems were judged not to be helped 76 by training. Correspondingly, 62.5 percent of the ISSUES problems were not helped. It appears that the programs offered few skills that helped the foster parents ability to solve these problems. Summary of the Seven Problem Areas The subjects in the training groups reported a total of 257 problems. Problems with child behaviors was the most frequently reported problem area with 61 problems. The problems with natural parents area was second with 52 problems and problems with agency representatives third with 46 problems. The results suggested that both programs provided some information or skills that helped foster parents solve problems in these areas. Overall, the FPSTP subjects reported that 49.2 percent of their reported problems were helped by training. The areas of child behaviors and comjunication seemed most directly affected by training. The totals of the ISSUES problems indicated that 26.3 percent of the problems reported were helped by training. The ISSUES training appeared to offer the most assistance in helping the subjects work with agency representatives. The responses of the subjects in this study would indicate that on the average the FPSTP training offered information and skills that led to the resolution or amelioration of more problems than did the ISSUES training. Control Group at 10 Weeks At the end of ten weeks, a total of seven control group subjects l¥iturned the Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problems. TAble 4.17 presents the responses of the foster parents in the control QFOUp. 77 Table 4.17 Self-Reported Problems of the Control Group Foster Parents at the End of 10 Weeks SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM NO TOTAL # WAS THERE LONGER INVOLVED OF PROBLEMS A CHANGE WITH THE PROBLEM AREA PER AREA YES NO FOSTER PARENT 1) AGENCY REPRESENTATIVES 8 2 3 3 2) NATURAL PARENTS 2 0 0 2 3) CHILD BEHAVIORS 3 O 2 l 4) SEPARATION 4 0 3 1 5) COMMUNICATION 3 0 2 1 6) LEGAL SYSTEM 2 0 O 2 7) ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS 3 1 2 0 TOTALS 25 3 12 10 (12.0%) (48.0%) (40.0%) The responses of the control group foster parents indicated that no change occurred in 48.0 percent of the problems reported. In ten, or 40.0 percent, of the problems reported, the source of the problem was no longer involved with the foster family. In only 3, or 12.0 percent, of the problems did any change seem to occur. The foster parents in the control group were given a questionnaire that asked them if anything had happened in the last 10 weeks that helped them deal with the first six previously listed problem areas. The additional problem area was eliminated since no subjects reported problems in this area. Six subjects returned the questionnaire. The results are reported in Table 4.18. 78 Table 4.18 Control Group Responses to Questions About Self—Reported Problem Areas PROBLEM AREA YES NO COMMENTS 1) Agency Representatives 0 6 2) Natural Parents 0 6 3) Child Behaviors l 5 Group discussion with other foster parents helped 4) Separation 0 6 5) Communication with Your Foster Child 2 4 Group discussion with other foster parents helped 6) Legal System or Agency Policy 0 6 TOTALS (8.3%) (91.7%) The responses of the control group subjects would indicate that many of the problems that existed at the beginning of the 10 week period were not substantially altered in 10 weeks. One foster parent did receive some help in the 10 week period, and that occurred because she was involved in a group discussion with several foster parents. The results of these instruments should be interpreted cautiously because of the small numbers of subjects. However, it does appear that little improvement seemed to occur during the 10 weeks. 79 Foster Parent Contact Sheets Results of the Foster Parent Contact Sheets Each foster parent in this research project was given a packet of 10 contact sheets, one for each week of training. The foster parents were to record their contacts whenever they had contact with another individual concerning foster care services. It should be noted that only 45 of the 59 subjects, or 76.3 percent, returned all or some of their contact sheets. The results of the reported contacts are being presented in an effort to help the reader understand areas of concern expressed by the foster parents and help discover any factors that might demonstrate a significant pattern among foster parents. Table 4.19 provides a summary of contacts for the FPSTP, ISSUES, and control groups. Table 4.19 Summary of Contacts for All Groups # OF SUBJECTS SEX 0F SUBJECT # OF CONTACTS/SEX GROUP REPORTING MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE TOTALS Monday 9 of 12 5 4 5 49 54 Tuesday 10 of 11 3 7 O 34 34 FPSTP 19 of 23 8 ll 5 83 88 Wednesday 10 of 13 4 6 3 21 24 Thursday 10 of 13 3 7 5 74 79 ISSUES 20 of 26 7 13 8 95 103 CONTROL 6 of 10 1 O 10 10 GROUP TOTALS 45 of 59 16 29 13 188 201 Contact sheets were completed by 45 of the 59 subjects included in the study. Of the 45 subjects who returned all or some of their 80 contact sheets, 16, or 35.6 percent, were males and 64.4 percent were females. The females, however, accounted for 93.5 percent of all the contacts reported during the training period. It appears that the foster mothers are the primary contact persons in the foster homes. One male subject returned his first contact sheet and stated that his wife would make any calls that were necessary during the next ten weeks. This sentiment was expressed verbally on several occasions by other males involved in the training. The nature of the individual contacts varied. Table 4.20 lists the purposes of those contacts that foster parents made during the ten week training period. This information is presented to help the reader understand some areas of concern expressed by the foster parents. Table 4.20 Purposes of Foster Parent Contacts for All Groups CATEGORY # OF RESPONSES BY GROUP AND PURPOSE FPSTP ISSUES CONTROL TOTALS I. Communication focusing on child's adjustment and direct request for services PURPOSE FPSTP ISSUES CONTROL TOTALS A. Sharing informa- tion with pro- fessionals about child's adjust- ment l9 l7 4 40 B. Direct request for casework services 7 l4 0 21 C. Request for case- work, counseling, or medical service 9 25 3 37 81 "Table 4.20 (continued)” 0. Problems with Foster Child 3 6 0 9 E. School Problems 3 4 O 7 Sub totals 41 66 7 114 11. Administrative and Technical Problems EESIP ISSUES CONTROL TOTALS A. Info needed re: Hearing Dates 2 9 l 12 B. Visitation of Relatives 6 6 O 12 C. Info re: Foster Parents Vouchers 3 7 0 10 0. Agency requesting Placement with F.P. 5 4 0 9 E. Clothing Voucher Needed 5 3 O 8 F. Medicaid info Needed 3 4 O 7 G. Adoption info Needed 6 O l 7 H. Transportation Needed 2 l 0 3 1. Miscellaneous 15 3 1 19 Sub totals 47 37 3 87 TOTALS 88 103 10 201 Table 4.20 indicates the 114 of the 201, or 56.7 percent, of the foster parent contacts were made in an effort to gain information or service that dealt with the child's adjustment while living in foster care. Eighty-seven, or 43.3 percent, of the contacts dealt with the administrative and technical difficulties of foster care. As can be seen by these statistics, much of the foster parents' concern is with the positive adjustment of the child in their home. It should be noted that foster parents who did not have children in their home had little contact with their court or their respective licensing agency. 82 The number of attempts needed to make contact with the desired individual was kept by the foster parents. The foster parents of the FPSTP groups recorded 111 attempts to make contact. Of those 111 attempts, 67 resulted in immediate contact with a person who could offer some assistance. The foster parents in the ISSUES groups made 108 attempts, 58 of which resulted in contact. These figures seem to illustrate a concern expressed verbally by foster parents that case- workers and other professionals are hard to contact, and that numerous attempts are needed before contact is made. Foster Parent Program Evaluation Questionnaire (FPPEQ) The FPPEQ was administered to the foster parents in the training groups at the end of the training period. The purpose of the instrument was to gather information about the participants' perceptions of the training program they had just completed. It should be remembered that the data of this instrument is based primarily upon each participant's subjective judgment of the program. As a result, the conclusions made, must be interpreted cautiously with the realization that extraneous factors unrelated to training could be influencing the subjects' responses. Questions from the FPPEQ have been grouped together in an effort to provide useful and meaningful data for the reader. Whenever possible, a table of information is presented for each group of questions. The particular question that was asked is presented, and the percent of responses per category for each training group is provided. Table 4.21 provides information about the training programs' usefulness in helping the foster parents understand the foster children's needs, the natural 83 parents' needs, their own needs as foster parents, and usefulness in helping them understand court policies and procedures regarding foster care. Table 4.21 Responses By Training Group Concerning Usefulness of Training to Help Understand Foster Care Needs and Court Policies QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY How useful was this training in helping you understand... 1. the needs of Not useful somewhat useful very useful foster children FPSTP (n=23) 4.3 21.7 73.9 ISSUES (n=25) 8.0 40.0 52.0 2. the needs of natural parents FPSTP (n=22) 47.8 43.5 8.7 ISSUES (n=26) 11.5 61.5 26.9 4. your needs as foster parents FPSTP (n=22) 0.0 27.3 72.7 ISSUES (n=26) 15.4 38.5 46.2 5. court policies and procedures re: foster care FPSTP (n=22) 40.9 45.5 13.6 ISSUES (n=26) 7.7 46.2 46.2 An average 73.3 percent of the subjects in the FPSTP group found the training to be "very useful" in helping them understand the needs of foster children and their own needs as foster parents. Correspondingly, an average of 49.1 percent of the ISSUES subjects found the courses to be "very useful" in these two areas. In the area of understanding natural parents' needs, 47.8 percent of the FPSTP subjects versus only 11.5 84 percent of the ISSUES subjects found the training “not useful." A similar response pattern on the question concerning court policies and procedures occurred, and 40.9 percent of the FPSTP subjects found the course to be "not useful" while only 7.7 percent of the ISSUES class found it "not useful." In fact, 46.2 percent of the ISSUES class found the training to be "very useful" in that area. The responses of the two groups suggested that the FPSTP and ISSUES training may have had a differential impact regarding these four areas. The FPSTP training appeared to be "very useful" to a majority of the subjects in helping them understand the needs of foster children and their own needs as foster parents. In contrast, the ISSUES training seemed to provide more help in those areas that assisted the foster parents to understand the needs of natural parents and court policies and procedures regarding foster care. Table 4.22 Responses By Training Groups Concerning Usefulness of Training in Working With Others QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY How useful was the training in helping you work with . . . 8. natural parents not useful somewhat useful very useful FPSTP (n=20) 40.0 60.0 0.0 ISSUES (n=26) 19.2 73.1 7.7 9. your caseworker FPSTP (n=23) 26.1 52.2 21.7 ISSUES (n=26) 11.5 50.0 38.5 10. the foster care department FPSTP (n=22) 27.2 59.1 13.6 ISSUES (n=24) 16.7 45.8 37.5 85 Questions eight, nine and ten asked the subjects to rate the usefulness of their programs in helping them work with natural parents, their caseworker, and the foster care department. Forty percent of the FPSTP subjects versus 19.2 percent of the ISSUES subjects felt the program was "not useful" in dealing with natural parents. The majority of subjects in both groups described the programs as being “somewhat useful" in working with natural parents, and few subjects found the training "very useful." The average percentage of "very useful” responses of the ISSUES subjects for questions dealing with working with the caseworker and foster care department was 38.0 percent, while only 17.7 percent of the FPSTP responded similarly. Most subjects in both groups felt the training was "somewhat helpful" in these areas. Generally, the responses of the subjects would indicate that both training programs addressed these three areas. Neither program seemed to evoke particularly large numbers of responses in the "very useful" category, and the majority of subjects found the training "somewhat useful" in these areas. The overall average of the ISSUES program subjects in the "somewhat useful" and "very useful" categories was higher. This suggests that the ISSUES program may have had slightly more impact in these areas. 86 Table 4.23 Responses By Training Groups Concerning Usefulness of Training in Working and Communicating With Caseworkers and Foster Children QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY How useful was this training in helping you work and communicate with . . . 3. your caseworker not useful somewhat useful very useful FPSTP (n=23) 26.1 52.2 21.7 ISSUES (n=26) 3.8 42.3 53.8 4. your foster child FPSTP (n=23) 0. 5 30.4 69.6 ISSUES (n=26 1 . . 34.6 DO 01 O O The subjects were asked to rate their programs in helping them to work and communicate with their caseworkers and foster children. The ISSUES course was found to be "very useful" in helping the subjects work with their caseworker by 58.3 percent of the subjects. Only 21.7 percent of the FPSTP subjects found the course "very useful," and even a larger percentage, 26.7 percent, found the course "not useful." In regard to working with foster children, 69.6 percent of the FPSTP subjects, as compared to 34.6 percent of the ISSUES subjects, found the course "very useful." The results of these questions would suggest that the two programs have a differential impact in these areas. The FPSTP class appeared to be more helpful than the ISSUES class in assisting parents to work with their foster children, while the ISSUES class was perceived to be more helpful than the FPSTP class in assisting the foster parents to work with their caseworkers. 87 Table 4.24 Responses By Treatment Groups to Questions Concerning the Group Process and Class Materials QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY 6. How useful did you find... not useful somewhat useful very useful discussion and interaction with other foster parents FPSTP (n=23) 0.0 0.0 100.00 ISSUES (n=26) 3.8 38.5 57. 7 11. How useful were your homework assignments FPSTP (n=20) 4.3 34.8 60. 9 ISSUES (n=26) 23.1 42.3 34. 6 15. How useful was the training manual FPSTP (n=23) 0.0 13.0 87. 0 ISSUES (n=26) ‘ 11.5 50.0 38. 5 The interaction with other foster parents was found to be "very useful" by 100.0 percent of the FPSTP subjects and by 57.7 percent of the ISSUES subjects. On average, the homework assignments and the training manual were rated as "very useful" by 73.9 percent of the FPSTP subjects and by 36.6 percent of the ISSUES subjects. The results of these responses would indicate that the FPSTP subjects felt their group interaction was more useful than the ISSUES class. Additionally, the material presented in the form of homework assignments and the training manual was perceived by the FPSTP subjects as being more useful than the respective assignments and manual of the ISSUES course. 88 Table 4.25 Responses By Training Groups Concerning Class Structure, Length, Relevance and Worthwhileness QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY 12. Did the class have not enough just enough too much too much structure or not enough? FPSTP (n=23) 17.4 78.3 4.3 ISSUES (n=26) 34.8 65.2 0.0 13. Do you think 10 week too short just right too long training period... appropriate? FPSTP (n=23) 8.7 73.9 17.4 ISSUES (n=26) 7.7 73.1 19.2 14. ...how relevant to your not somewhat very job did you find the relevant relevant relevant material presented...? FPSTP (n=22) 0.0 45.4 54.5 ISSUES (n=26) 3.8 38.5 57.7 27. Was this program worth your time and energy? YES NO FPSTP (n=23) 100.0 0.0 ISSUES (n=26) 84.6 15.4 Generally speaking, the subjects in both groups felt that the structure and length of the course were appropriate. All the foster parents in the FPSTP training felt the course was worth their time and energy. A vast majority, 84.6 percent, of the ISSUES subjects also found the course worth their time and energy. Comments by Foster Parents on Class Content The foster parents were asked to respond to three open-ended questions that attempted to gain information about what they thought 89 was the most useful and least useful thing they learned in class. The third question asked for additional topic areas that should be added to the class. A general summary of those responses is provided in the following paragraphs. Question 16: What was the most useful thing you learned in class? A large number of FPSTP foster parents, 57.5 percent, felt that the reflective listening and communication skills were the most useful things they learned in class. When asked a related question, "Did training help you deal with any particular problems?" 60.9 percent of the FPSTP subjects responded affirmatively. Of those subjects who responded affirmatively, 78.6 percent felt that reflective listening and increased communication skills helped them the most. Information that helped foster parents become more assertive when working with foster parent agencies was listed by 39.0 percent of the ISSUES group as being the most useful thing in the class. Informa- tion dealing with separation trauma was listed as "most useful" by 26.1 percent of the subjects. _ When asked the question, "Did the training help you deal with any particular problems?," 61.3 percent of the ISSUES foster parents responded "yes." Of those responding affirmatively, 56.3 percent felt the training helped them to understand the court better and helped them to deal assertively with the court. Question 17: What was the least useful thing you learned in this class? The foster parents in both the FPSTP and ISSUES groups felt that very few non-useful elements were presented in the program. Generally 90 speaking, a vast majority of the foster parents of both groups thought all aspects of the training had some usefulness. Question 18: Please list, in order of importance, additional topic areas that you think should be added to this training. Several topic areas were listed by the FPSTP subjects. More information was requested on how to deal with specific problem behaviors such as lying, stealing, and hyperactive children. Further topic areas that were suggested included: foster parent rights, more legal information, and sessions focusing on separation. The ISSUES subjects suggested topic areas that dealt with child abuse and available community resources would be helpful. Additionally, a class that would help the parents learn how to work with "hard to handle" children and delinquent behavior was also requested. Finally, one subject suggested that more time be spent on how to “listen and understand our kids." Question 22: When do you think is the most appropriate time for foster parents to take this training? Most of the FPSTP subjects, 68.7 percent, felt their training should either be offered during the licensing process or before a child is placed in the foster home. Correspondingly, 47.8 percent of the ISSUES subjects felt the training should be offered during these periods. However, 26.1 percent of the ISSUES subjects as compared to 14.3 percent of the FPSTP subjects felt the training should be offered shortly after the first child is placed in the foster home. Finally, 26.1 percent of the ISSUES subject and 19.0 percent of the FPSTP subjects felt the train- ing would be appropriate anytime during the foster parent's career. 91 Question 23: How would you rate your instructor's knowledge of the material presented in the training. A large portion, 79.2 percent, of the FPSTP subjects rated their instructor's knowledge of the material as "excellent," and 20.8 percent rated it as I'good." In contrast, 45.8 percent of the ISSUES subjects rated their instructor's knowledge as "excellent," 45.8 percent rated it as ”good," and the remaining 8.3 percent rated it as "average." These ratings would suggest that, overall, the FPSTP instructor's had a better knowledge of the material presented than did the ISSUES instructors. Since both sets of trainers received training that was judged to be representative of each program, the perceived difference in the instructor's knowledge may have been due in part to the extensive train- ing offered to the FPSTP instructors. Question 24: Prior to this course, did you participate in any formalized foster parent training programs. None of the subjects in this study had ever taken the ISSUES or FPSTP courses. Eight or 34.8 percent of the FPSTP subjects reported having participated in some fOrmalized training and 13 or 50.0 percent of the ISSUES subjects reported some formalized training. The source of most of the training had been the Ingham County Probate Court. In the past, four or five years prior to this research, the court offered several classes on foster parenting. The themes that were mentioned as being taught were: parent communication training, sexual awareness training, values clarification, and classes dealing with natural parents and problem children. Overall, 21 or 42.8 percent of all the subjects had been exposed to some previous training. These results would indicate that some of the subjects were not naive to training situations and that each subject brought to the course varying levels of expertise 92 and sophistication. Table 4.26 Responses By Training Groups Concerning Change in The Foster Family as a Result of Training QUESTION # PERCENT PER CATEGORY 20. Did you see any change in your family as a result of training? YES NO FPSTP (n=23) 60.9 39.1 ISSUES (n=25) 24.0 76.0 The responses of the FPSTP subjects indicated that 60.9 percent felt that a change had occurred, while only 24.0 percent of the ISSUES subjects felt that some change had taken place. A Chi-Square test yielded a x2 value of 6.65, which indicated that this response set was significant at a probability level of less than .01. When asked to explain the changes, 73.3 percent of the FPSTP subjects reported that there appeared to be more understanding and cooperation between family members than before training, and that reflective listening was listed as the major cause for that change. Of the 24.0 percent of the ISSUES foster parents who saw a change, a definitive pattern of explanations was not obtained. Some foster parents did feel that they were more understanding of each other and that the course may have helped them learn new ways to handle problems. Question 25: In general, how did this training program affect your foster parenting methods? The FPSTP foster parents mentioned two major areas in which they felt their foster parenting techniques had been affected by the 93 training. Approximately one half of the FPSTP subjects felt that reflective listening had helped them to gain more understanding of their children's feelings and needs. The second area of change dealt with an increased ability to handle problem behaviors and was mentioned by 17.4 percent of the FPSTP subjects. Few ISSUES foster parents saw any changes in their foster parenting methods. Of those foster parents reporting change, 21.7 percent reported changes that helped them understand natural parents and helped them become more patient. In general, it appeared that the FPSTP class provided more specific skills and information that were perceived by foster parents as making significant changes in their families and foster parenting techniques than the ISSUES class. Summary Univariate analyses of covariance with planned comparisons were used to test the six research hypotheses. The first planned comparison sought to discover the differences between the ISSUES and FPSTP training group scores on each dependent measure. The second planned comparison sought to discover the differences between the combined training group scores and the control group scores on each dependent measure. An alpha level of .05 was established for each univariate test. The six research hypotheses were grouped by dependent measures. Hypotheses one and four were concerned with parental acceptance scores as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale. The results of the univariate tests indicated that no significant differences existed between the training groups or between the combined group scores and the control group scores on this measure. 94 Hypotheses two and five dealt with sensitivity to children scores as measured by the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire. The results of the univariate tests indicated that a significant difference did exist between the training groups. The FPSTP subjects were found to have increased their usage of "effective” responses by 18.3 percent, while the ISSUES subjects used 3.79 percent less "effective" responses. No significant differences were found between the combined training group scores and the control group scores. Hypotheses three and six dealt with general foster parent attitudes as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey. The results indicated that no significant differences existed between the training groups or between the combined training group scores and the control group. Supplementary analyses were conducted in an effort to test the effects treatment had on the dependent variables over time. The results indicated that significant treatment by time effects did occur for the FPSTP subjects on the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Sensitiv- ity to Children Questionnaire. No significant time effects were found in the ISSUES or control groups on these measures. No significant treatment by time effects were found for any group on the Foster Parent Attitude Survey. Further interpretation and discussion of these results are presented in Chapter V. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, AND IMPLICATIONS CHAPTER V SUMMARY, DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, AND IMPLICATIONS SUMMARY The Problem The extensive use of foster care as a form of substitute family care has lead to an increased interest in foster care as a viable alternative to in home care. As the number of children placed in foster care grew, child welfare agencies realized the importance of providing training programs that were specifically designed to meet the needs of foster parents. Foster parents have become increasingly vocal about their demands for specialized training. Foster parent organizations have called for training programs that help meet the increasing needs of the children they serve. Foster parents have found that the knowledge they have gained through years of experience is an important tool that can enhance foster parent training. As a result, group training methods were seen as an efficient method to utilize and incorporate this valuable experience. Studies by professional educators have found that foster parents could benefit from information in several basic areas. Information about human growth and development, separation and loss, children's behavior and the foster parent's role were considered to be particularly important. Previous research has indicated that emotional warmth and acceptance and sensitivity to the problems and needs of children are qualities and attitudes that can help parents establish and maintain positive relation- ships with their children. The purpose of this research was to determine the effects that two formalized training programs had on foster parents' 95 96 attitudes of parental acceptance, sensitivity to children, and general foster parent attitudes. Design and Methodology A pretest-posttest control group design was used in this research. Subjects, who had volunteered for training, were randomly assigned to one of five groups. Two groups received the Issues in Fostering class and two groups received the Foster Parent Skills Training Program class. The fifth group, the control group, did not receive any training. Each training method consisted of 10 sessions. A total of 59 subjects were included in the final data analysis. The research trainers were individuals who were experienced workers in the juvenile court system. The qualifications of each trainer were found acceptable by representatives of both training programs. The trainers were randomly assigned to a particular training method, then trained and supervised by authorized representatives of each program. Three dependent measures were used to test the hypotheses of this research. The Porter Parental Acceptance Scale was used to measure parental attitudes of acceptance. The Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire was used to measure the foster parents' ability to formulate sensitive responses to children in hypothetical situations. The Foster Parent Attitude Survey was used to measure general foster parent attitudes. Further data was collected for this study and included information about specific problems the individual foster parents encountered during the 10 week period, the types of contact they made, and the subjects' evaluations of their respective training program. 97 Results A univariate analysis of covariance with planned comparisons procedure was used to test the six major hypotheses. The results of those analyses are as follows: 1. No differences on attitudes of parental acceptance, as measured by the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale (PPAS), were found between the treatment groups. 2. No differences in attitudes of parental acceptance, as measured by the PPAS, were found between the treatment groups and the control group. 3. Differences in sensitivity to children, as measured by the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire (STC), were found between the treatment groups. 4. NO differences in sensitivity to children, as measured by the STC, were found between the treatment groups and the control group. 5. No differences in general foster parent attitudes, as measured by the Foster Parent Attitude Survey (FPAS), were found between the treatment groups. 6. No differences in general foster parent attitudes, as measured by the FPAS, were found between the treatment groups and the control group. Supplementary analyses were conducted to evaluate the process of learning that had occurred within the research groups. A univariate analysis of variance for repeated measures procedure was utilized to analyze the difference between the pretest-posttest scores on the dependent measures. Data was also gathered regarding problems that concerned the foster parents and the reported effects that training had on those problems. Finally, the foster parents' evaluations of the training 98 programs were studied and descriptive statistics were used to report the results. The results of those analyses are reported below. 1. A significant treatment by time effect was found in attitudes of parental acceptance, as measured by the PPAS, between the treatment groups. 2. A significant treatment by time effect was found in sensitivity to children, as measured by the STC, between the treatment groups. 3. NO treatment by time effect was found in general foster parent attitudes, as measured by the FPAS, between treatment groups. 4. No treatment by time effect was found on any of the three dependent variables between the training groups and the control group. 5. The results of the Foster Parent Instrument for Self Reported Problem Areas indicated that the training groups had a differential effect on helping foster parents solve their reported problems. The FPSTP training offered help with 49.2 percent of the reported problems as compared to ISSUES training which offered help in 26.3 percent of the reported problems. 6. Differences between the FPSTP and ISSUES groups were found when the subjects were asked if they saw any change in their family as a result of training. Significantly more FPSTP subjects saw changes than did the ISSUES subjects. Discussion of the Results This research was designed to determine the effects that the FPSTP and ISSUES training programs had on foster parents' attitudes of parental acceptance, sensitivity to children and general foster parent attitudes. The results of this research indicated that, after training, 99 no differences existed between the FPSTP and ISSUES training on attitudes of parental acceptance. Supplementary analyses of the difference scores of the pretest and posttest indicated that the FPSTP subjects had a significant gain over time in their attitudes of parental acceptance. Those portions of the FPSTP curriculum that appeared to directly address attitudes of parental acceptance and may have influenced these attitudes were: Lesson 1 - Special Issues for foster children; Lesson 2 - Realistic expectations, and Lessons 3 B 4 - Reflective Listening. The results of the Sensitivity to Children Questionnaire indicated that after training a significant difference existed between the training groups. The FPSTP subjects were judged to use "effective" responses an average of 42.03 percent of the time (an increase of 18.48 percent), and the ISSUES subjects used "effective" responses 24.97 percent of the time (a decrease of 3.79 percent). The analyses of the individual STC response categories indicated that the FPSTP subjects increased their usage of "reflection of the child's féelings" by 17.7 percent. The resultant increase in use of "effective“ responses by the FPSTP subjects appears to have been influenced substantially by the subjects increased use of "reflecting“ responses. These results suggested that those portions of the FPSTP training that focused on communication skills affected the FPSTP subjects ability to formulate "effective" written responses. No differences on the scores of the Foster Parent Attitude Survey were found between the training groups or between the combined training group scores and the control group. The results of the Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problem Areas indicated that after five weeks the status of most problems 100 remained unchanged. At the end of 10 weeks some differential effects between the groups seem to have occurred. The FPSTP subjects reported that 49.3 percent of all their reported problems were helped by training. The major impact of the FPSTP training appeared to be with problems that dealt with child behaviors and communication. Only 26.3 percent of the problems reported by the ISSUES subjects were helped by the training. The ISSUES training had its greatest impact in helping the foster parents deal with problems with agency representatives. Overall, the FPSTP appears to have provided more information and skills to help foster parents deal with problems than did the ISSUES training. Only six control group subjects returned the Self Reported Problem Area questionnaire. The results indicated that only 12 percent of the reported problems had any change in status. A second questionnaire administered to the control group indicated that 91.7 percent of the control group subjects felt nothing happened in the 10 week period that helped them solve problems in the specified problem areas. The Foster Parent Program Evaluation Questionnaire was administered at the end of the training and was used to gather information about the foster parents' reaction to their respective training programs. The results suggested that the programs had a differential effect on their subjects. The FPSTP training was judged to be very useful in helping the subjects understand their needs as foster parents and the needs of the foster children. The ISSUES prbgram seemed to be more useful than the FPSTP training in helping the foster parents understand the needs of natural parents as well as court policies and procedures. Both programs were judged to provide relevant information, and a vast majority of the 101 subjects felt the training was worthwhile. Finally, the subjects for each group were asked if they saw a difference in their family as a result of training. The responses of the FPSTP subjects, when compared with the ISSUES subjects' responses, indicated that a statistically significant number of FPSTP subjects (x2= 6.55, p<.01) saw change in their family. The change was attributed to an increase in cooperation and understanding among family members. Reflective listening was reported as the major cause of that change. Conclusions The two programs used in this study were designed by experts in the field of foster parent training. The responses of the research subjects of both programs indicated that they felt the information they received in training was relevant to their jobs as foster parents. A vast majority of both groups felt the training was worth the time and energy they had invested in the program. Those responses would indicate that the content of the courses was generally well received by the subjects. The results of the analyses of the dependent variables suggest that after training no differences were found between the training and control groups on the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale or Foster Parent Attitude Survey. A significant difference did occur between the training groups on the STC questionnaire. This difference would imply that the FPSTP program was more effective than the ISSUES program in helping develop skills that would enable foster parents to be sensitive to a child's needs and to formulate written responses to those expressed needs. Further results indicated that reflection of the child's feelings 102 was the principal communication skill learned by the FPSTP subjects. Additional results of the study suggested that the FPSTP program was more helpful in helping solve foster parent problems than was the ISSUES program. This difference was attributed to the parts of the FPSTP curriculum which taught specific methods and skills to deal with problems. The FPSTP program strength seemed to be in its ability to help foster parents solve problems with certain child behaviors and to help with techniques that improve communication and understanding between family members. The strength of the ISSUES program seemed to be centered around its provision of information about separation trauma and those issues which helped the foster parents become more aware of their rights, and which helped the foster parents become more assertive in demanding what they need from their respective agencies. The skills provided by the FPSTP program seemed to have been implemented to some extent in the FPSTP subjects' homes. Significantly more FPSTP subjects than ISSUES subjects saw changes in their families and in their parenting techniques as a result of training. The trends in the data suggested the ISSUES program provided cognitive information that helped foster parents become oriented to the unique role of foster parenting. Few behavioral skills were taught in this program. The FPSTP offered cognitive information about the role of foster parents, but the results of this study suggested that its primary strength was to provide foster parents with specific skills that helped them deal with a variety of behavioral and communication problems. The fact that both programs offered relevant and useful information needs to be recognized. The curricula of both programs provided knowledge that enhanced a foster parent's ability to provide foster care. Those classes, which were judged to be the strength of the 103 ISSUES program, dealt with separation trauma and provided information that helped foster parents become assertive with the foster care system. The strengths of the FPSTP training were judged to be the information and skills that helped the foster parents improve communica- tion skills and helped them deal with behavioral problems. A program which would offer the strengths of both programs may prove to be useful for foster parents. Therefore, a major recommendation of this research is that the ISSUES information that deals with separation trauma and information that helps foster parents become more assertive with the system be added to the FPSTP program. The proposed additions to the FPSTP curriculum would include two sessions that focus on the effects of separation on the foster child, foster family, and natural family. A third addition to the FPSTP program would occur in the session which focuses on Special Issues for Foster Parents. Information from the ISSUES course which concentrated on foster parents rights, the roles and responsibilities of foster parents, and information that helped foster parents work with caseworkers and other professionals would be included. The format of the proposed curriculum would be as follows: Lesson 1. - Special Issues of Foster Children Lesson 2. - Separation Trauma: How it affects the child Lesson 3. - Separation Trauma: The Natural Family and the Foster Family Lesson 4. - Realistic Expectations Lesson 5. - Reflective Listening Lesson 6. - Reflective Listening II Lesson 7. - Special Issues for Foster Parents with a focus on: A. Foster Parents' Rights 104 B. Role and Responsibilities C. Information to help foster parents work with caseworkers and other professionals. Lesson 8. - Parent Messages Lesson 9. - Structuring Lesson 10. - Reinforcement Lesson 11. - Rules, Limits, and Consequences Lesson 12. - Putting it all Together The new curriculum would require a total of 12 sessions as compared to the 10 sessions utilized by the ISSUES and FPSTP programs. It is felt that the two additional weeks of training would not be detrimental to the foster parents' desire to learn. The resultant program would be expected to supplement the FPSTP curriculum in areas that proved beneficial to the ISSUES subjects. The fact that the training was well received was due in great part to the course content provided by both training programs. A second factor which seems to have emerged is that foster parents received emotional support from the other foster parents in the groups. The fact that other individuals had suffered similar frustrations and experiences was important to many foster parents. Thus, group training methods can be considered an important forum in which to provide information and parenting techniques and, it also can be an important source of emotional support for the difficult task of being a foster parent. Limitations This research was carefully designed so that the basic questions regarding the differences between the training groups could be answered. Randomization was used to help prevent initial biases between the three 105 groups and the research trainers. Independence between the training groups was insured. The trainers were instructed and supervised by individuals who had a thorough knowledge of their respective programs. In essence, a great deal of time, energy and thought was expended in an effort to use the most appropriate design, methodological, and statist- ical procedures in order to control for possible threats to internal and external validity. There are, however, some limitations to this study that should be noted. There are three sources of limitations for this research that will be discussed. These three sources are: the characteristics of the subjects, measures, and the design and methodology. All the subjects in this study were volunteers. Each had expressed a desire for training, and as a result may have represented that pOrtion of the general foster parent population which possessed high levels of motivation, openness to instruction, and desire to change. To an even greater extent, these levels may have been present in the control group. Initially, 20 subjects were assigned to the control group. However, only 10 subjects returned their instruments and were included in the final data analyses. The pretest scores of the control group on the PPAS, STC, and FPAS were higher than any of the other groups. The data collection process required that an individual spend approximately three quarters of an hour to two hours to complete the measures. As a result, only the most highly motivated and verbally skilled subjects may have returned the instruments, and thus the initial randomization procedure could have been adversely affected. The three dependent measures in this study are a source of limitation. All three instruments require a level of reading ability and 106 verbal skill that may influence a subject's ability to respond. These written responses may not translate into behavioral changes, and conversely these instruments may be insensitive to some behavioral changes that did occur as a result of training. The FPAS instrument was insensitive to change. A high pretest average occurred across all groups on the FPAS. The average pretest scores indicated that the subjects responded with the preferred answer approximately 73 percent of the time. This indicated that most of the subjects had little difficulty in discriminating between the preferred and non-preferred responses. This lack of difficulty would suggest that the items of the test did not provide enough difficulty for this population to allow for a measurable level of discrimination. In essence, a "ceiling effect" occurred with this instrument. Several design and methodological procedures need to be considered as sources of limitation. In terms of data collection, three factors need to be discussed. First, the time needed to complete the instruments ranged from three quarters of an hour to two hours. This length of time was burdensome for some subjects and appears to have been insurmountable for some control group subjects. In some cases, the data may have been influenced by factors other than the treatments, such as fatigue and lack of motivation. In future research, the amount of measures presented should be carefully studied. Second, the results of the Foster Parent Contact Sheets should be interpreted cautiously as the subjects were required to report weekly on their contacts. The method of recording such contacts may be of limited value because it tended to record contacts of only the most conscientious individuals. The third factor is related to the data collection of the control group. Although procedures were 107 introduced to facilitate the return of the control group data, the design of this research may have placed an unrealistic amount of responsibility on the control group to return that data by mail without the reinforcement of some group meeting or training. The results of this study relate specifically to the subjects in this study. However, the Cornfield-Tukey Bridge Argument (Cornfield and Tukey, 1956) may be applied so that the results of this study may be generalized to other populations who possess characteristics similar to the subjects in this study. Implications for Future Research The results of this study indicated that foster parents found training to be worthwhile and in many cases a stimulus for change in their own parenting skills. Future reSearch should be conducted in an effort to learn more about specific foster parent training programs and about the individuals in our society who become foster parents. The following suggestions for future research are offered so that additional information about foster care can be obtained. 1. An important component of the delivery of foster care services is the ability of foster care agencies to screen and license those foster parent candidates who can provide a stable and beneficial environment for children. Assessment procedures and measures need to be researched and developed that would provide the agency personnel with the type of data that would lead to prudent decisions. 2. Foster parents have indicated that cooperation between agency representatives and themselves is important. Research which would study the effects of supervision on the quality of foster care would be valuable. 108 3. Research that would focus on the simultaneous training of the foster parents and agency representatives and its effects on the delivery of foster care services would also be worthwhile. 4. The subjects in this research indicated that training was useful in helping them solve problems. Research that focused on the specific behavioral changes that facilitated the foster parent's ability to solve problems would be valuable. 5. Many of the subjects in this research found the interaction among foster parents to be very useful. The use of foster parents as instructors needs to be investigated. 6. The results of this research indicated that a "ceiling effect" may have occurred with the Foster Parent Attitude Survey. Further research regarding this instrument would seem to be warranted especially if it is continued as an evaluation tool of the Issues in Fostering class. 7. The subjects in this research indicated that the interaction with other foster parents was important in that it provided a source of knowledge and emotional support. Further research that focused on the group dynamics that promote learning and emotional support would be valuable. If this research project were to be repeated, this researcher would change several aspects of the study. The changes would be: 1. Provide some form of group forum for the control group in an effort to avoid the attrition that took place in this study. 2. Reduce the number of dependent measures and focus on a smaller number of variables. 3. Develop a more efficient and reliable method of understanding foster parent-agency communication patterns. 109 In Retrospect The results of this research have been discussed in detail in the previous chapters. At this point, this researcher feels a need to express some personal comments that are based upon nearly two years of work with the individuals who participated in this study. Even though no statistical significance was found between the combined scores of the training groups and the no treatment control group, this researcher believes that evidence was provided which suggested these foster parent training methods do provide knowledge and information that was beneficial to foster parents. Specifically, the ISSUES curriculum provided information that helped the foster parent become aware of the unique problems and duties of foster parenting. It is important to learn about the intricacies of dealing with the foster care system and to understand the dynamics of separation. This information is basic and should be provided for every foster parent. Much of what is taught in the Issues in Fostering class could be taught in an extensive orientation program by the host agency. If the host agencies do not accept the challenge of orientation then a course like Issues in Fostering serves an important need. The FPSTP curriculum teaches specific skills that have been determined to be important in child rearing. This research has indicated that these skills can be taught, practiced, and to some extent measured. In this society we are taught specific skills which help us to fulfill certain occupational roles. It seems logical that skills can and should be taught which help foster parents improve their ability to provide care. The researcher believes that if specific behaviors are expected of foster parents, then the expected behaviors need to be taught and reinforced. Additionally, if the foster parent's attitudes and values 110 are consistent with those skills then the willingness to learn those skills will be enhanced. The dependent measures in this research focused on very specific areas. This researcher believes that a more thorough investigation needs to occur as to what personality traits add to an individual's ability to provide care. Once these traits can be identified and measured, then extensive screening of foster parents needs to be instituted. Extended behavioral observations may be an important tool to help determine specific competency levels. The demands of foster care are numerous and complex. A great deal is expected of foster parents. Years of experience have provided knowledge that can be taught to foster parents to help them fulfill their roles as caregivers. This researcher believes organized training programs are essential. The ultimate goal of foster care is to create an environ- ment which will promote an individual's growth and development. Every effort ought to be made to train foster parents with Skills that will enhance their ability to create such an environment. APPENDIX A SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE Instructions A series of situations will be found on the following pages. You are to pretend or imagine you are the parent (mother or father) of the child described. All children in the following situations are to be considered under twelve years old, unless otherwise indicated. Your task is to write down exactly how you would respond to the child in each of the situations, in a word, sentence or short paragraph. Write down your exact words and/or actions, but please do not explain why you said what you described. Again, write down your exact words or actions as if you were writing a script for a play or movie (e.g., do ngt_write "I would reassure or comfort him," instead, for example, write “I would smile at him and in a quiet voice say, "Don't worry Billy, Daddy and I love you.") 1103. 111 # You and your husband (wife) are going out for the evening. As you are leaving you both say ”good night" to your five year old foster son, Frank. He begins to cry and pleads with you not to go out and leave him like his natural parents used to do. He doesn't appear sick and the babysitter is one he has previously gotten along well with. I would say: After hearing some screaming in the family room you go there and find your ten year old daughter, Susan, hitting her two year old foster sister. You hear Susan say to your foster child, "Ever since you have been here things haven't been the same.” I would say: 112 #_ You have been Shopping at Sears to buy new clothes for your foster child. The total amount of the purchase order has been used and you are checking out. Your seven year old foster son, Lee, says he wants a special jacket that costs $20.00. You know he has one jacket and you have used all the allotted money, so you say "No” to his request. He then lies down and begins screaming and kicking at you. I would say: While sitting and watching television, your foster daughter, Eva, comes over to you and asks in a quiet concerned voice: ”00 you love me more than my real mommy and daddy?" I would say: 113 # Sarah, fifteen years old, has been placed with you for six months. She comes up to you while you are reading and asks, "How much longer do I have to live here?" I would say: You have just washed and ironed clothes for your fourteen year old foster child. You walk into his/her room and find that the clothes are thrown haphazardly around the room. He/she is lying on the bed reading a magazine. I would say: 114 # Your eleven year old foster child has been placed with you for one year. He/she is to be returned home in one week. He/she says to you, "Why do I have to leave? Don't you love me anymore?” I would say: Robert, your six year old foster child who has been abused by his parents, has been living with you one week. He says to you, “I hate you and I want to go home." I would say: 115 9. It is 8:00 p.m. and that is the time you and your son Gary have agreed is his bedtime for that evening, but he wants to stay up and play. I would say: 10. Your spouse has just punished your foster daughter Lillian for some rule infraction. Lillian becomes hysterical and runs to you crying. I would say: 116 Scoring Procedure The STC Questionnaires were rated and scored using the following procedure. 1. The three raters were trained to recognize "effective" and ”ineffective" responses. A criterion level of 90% agreement was attained prior to the rating of the instruments. Each rater read the STC Questionnaire independently. As they read the subject's response to a particular STC Situation (an STC consisted of 10 situations) they marked those response categories that best described the subject's answer. The raters were encouraged to limit their scoring to not more than 3 or 4 response categories per answer. When at least 2 out of 3 raters agreed on a particular response category for a certain STC situation that category was included in the subject's total percentage of response categories. Therefore, if the raters agreed that the subject used 6 "reflecting" responses out of a total of 20 responses than the subject's "reflecting" responses represented é%-or 30% of the total number of responses. The percentage of "effective" responses was determined by dividing the total number of "effective" response categories in which rater agreement occurred by the total number of 117 agreements throughout the 16 response categories. For example, a subject could have a total number of 20 responses in which agreement by the raters occurred. If 6 were ”reflecting" responses, 2 were "acceptance of childs feelings," and 2 were "expression of adult's own feelings" than 10 out of 20 responses were "effective" for and "effective response score" of 50.0 percent. APPENDIX B FOSTER PARENTS PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX B FOSTER PARENTS PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE Name Address Phone Directions: Please fill out this form as completely as possible and return to the Ingham County Probate Court, 303 W. Kalamazoo, Lansing, MI. 48933. 1) Total Years as Foster Parents ___ Total Number of Children Fostered ____ 2) Husband's Present Age ____ Wife's Present Age ____ 3) Husband's Occupation Wife's Occupation 4) Husband's Religion Wife's Religion 5) Husband's Race Wife's Race 6) Husband's Education (Check One): Wife's Education (Check One): __Post Graduate Degree __Post Graduate Degree __College Degree __College Degree __Some College __Some College __High School Graduate __High School Graduate __Some High School __Some High School Completed 7th grade but less Completed 7th grade but less .__than 9th __ythan 9th ‘__Completed less than 7th grade __Completed less than 7th grade 7) Family Income (Check One): __Under $3,500 to $5,000 (Estimated where exact informa- tion is not available) __$ 5,001 to $ 7,000 .__$ 7,001 to $ 9,000 _$ 9,001 to $12,000 _$12,001 to $15,000 __More than $15,000 118 8) 9) 10) 11) 119 Please indicate the appropriate group for you. (Check one space in each column). a) b) C) d) e) Husband Wife Indian Spanish-American Black White Other: please indicate Type of neighborhood you live in (Check one) a) b) Farm area ______ Small town (1,000 or less) _____.Large town (1,000 to 15,000) ______Small city (15,000 to 50,000) _____ Large city (50,000 and above) Type of housing (Check one) a) Single dwelling b) ______ Apartment c) _____ Other (please specify) Is your home considered to be ...... (Check one) a) Regular foster home b) Foster family group home c) Shelter or emergency home d) Pre-adoption home e) ______0ther (please specify) 120 12) How many children of your own (natural or/and adopted) do you have? a) ______Boys Ages b) ______ Girls Ages c) ______Number of boys still living at home d) Number of girls still living at home 13) How many foster children do you have presently living at home? a) ______Foster boys b) ______ Foster girls 14) What are the gggg of your foster children? What are their :gggg? What are their religions? And how long has each been living with you (months, years)? Agg_ Race Religion Length of time with you a) Boys: b) Girls: 15) Altogether, how many years have you been foster parents? l6) Altogether, how many foster children have you had live with you (i.e., past and present)? a) Foster boys b) Foster girls 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 121 Which of these age ranges have you most enjoyed fostering? (Indicate one only.) a) ______ Under two years old b) Pre-school over two years old c) ______ Ages 6 to 12 d) Teenagers Please indicate which of the following types of children have been placed in your home: (Check any which apply) a) ______Mentally retarded b) ______ Physically handicapped c) ‘_____ Delinquent d) ______Emotiona11y disturbed e) ______Abused and neglected f) ______ No experience with these types of children How rewarding have you found the experience of being a foster parent? (Check one). a) _____ Generally, very rewarding b) ______ Generally, moderately rewarding c) ______Generally, seldom rewarding d) ______Generally, not rewarding at all In the last year, how many different foster home case workers have been assigned to your home? Indicate Number During the average month, about how many contacts do you have with the foster home case worker assigned to your home? (Indicate number of each type. a) By phone b) By visit in your home c) By visit to the agency's offices d) Other APPENDIX A SENSITIVITY TO CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE AND SCORING PROCEDURES 122 22) Please indicate your overall satisfaction with the service you have been receiving from your agency. (Check one.) a) ______Genera11y, very satisfied b) ______ Usually satisfied c) _____ Usually dissatisfied d) Generally, very dissatisfied 23) How did you originally find out about foster parents and foster children? That is, What was your first source of information? (1 or 2 sentences) 24) How did you originally become involved as foster parents? That is, How did you get into it? (1 or 2 sentences) 25) How did you first find out about this particular program? (1 or 2 sentences) APPENDIX C FOSTER PARENT INSTRUMENT FOR SELF-REPORTED PROBLEM AREAS APPENDIX C FOSTER PARENT INSTRUMENT FOR SELF-REPORTED PROBLEM AREAS # —— The problem areas listed below represent some sources of concern for most foster parents. Please list below specific problems you are currently encountering in each of the following areas. It is important that you list specific problems. Examples of specific problems are given under each area. List your problems in each section in order of importance to you. List as many problems as you wish per area. Additional sheets of paper will be provided if necessary. The final section entitled, Additional Problems, is to be used for problems which are of concern for you, but are not covered by the other six problem areas. PROBLEM AREAS 1. Problems with Agency Representatives (Example: The caseworker does not tell us about a child before he/she places them in our home.) 1. 2. 3. Other: 2. Problems with Natural Parents (Example: The natural mother does not show up on time for visitation.) l. 2. 3. Other: 123 124 Problems with certain child behaviors (Example: Our 12 year old foster child refuses to hang up his/her clothes in his/her room.) 1. Other: Problems of Separation (Example: I am feeling depressed because the foster child who has been living with us for one year is returning to his natural parents next month.) 1. Other: Problems with communication between you and your foster child (Example: Our foster child will not discuss his/her feelings about missing his/her natural parents.) 1. Other: 125 Problems with legal system or agency policies (Example: The court decides to remove a foster child from my home without asking my opinion.) 1. Other: Additional Problems 1. Other: 126 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FOSTER PARENT INSTRUMENT FOR SELF-REPORTED PROBLEM AREAS-AT FIVE WEEKS Attached to this sheet is a copy of the Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problem Areas that you filled out several weeks ago. 1. Please review the problems you listed under each problem area. (Each problem has been assigned a number in the left margin.) 2. Using the assigned number as a guide, indicate in the spaces provided if these problems still exist. If there has been a change in the problem listed, please comment on how the problem has changed and what brought about that change. 3. A blank Foster Parent Instrument for Self-Reported Problem Areas is attached. Please list any new problems that may have arisen since you last filled out your first Foster Parent Instrument for Self- Reported Problem Areas. 127 ANSWER SHEET-AT FIVE WEEKS PROBLEM AREA - Problems With Agency Representatives. PROBLEM NUMBER _____. Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? No No No 128 PROBLEM AREA - Problems With Natural Parents. PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? No No No 129 PROBLEM AREA - Problems With Certain Child Behaviors. PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes If yes, then how and what caused change? No No No 13O PROBLEM AREA - Problems of Separation. PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? Yes Yes Yes No No No 131 PROBLEM AREA — Problems With Communication Between You and Your Foster Child PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes No If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes No If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? Yes No If yes, then how and what caused change? 132 PROBLEM AREA - Problems With Legal System PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? or Agency Policies. Yes Yes Yes No No No 133 PROBLEM AREA - Additional Problems. PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? PROBLEM NUMBER Was there change? If yes, then how and what caused change? Yes Yes Yes No No No 134 ANSWER SHEET - AFlER lEN WEEKS CODE # Please answer the following questions about the specific problems you have previously listed. Problem Number Does this problem still exist? yes no Did this training program provide any information or skills that affected your ability to deal with this problem? yes no If "yes" what specifically did you learn in training regarding this specific problem? Please answer the following questions about the specific problems you have previously listed. Problem Number Does this problem still exist? yes no Did this training program provide any information or skills that affected your ability to deal with this problem? yes no If "yes" what specifically did you learn in training regarding this specific problem? APPENDIX D FOSTER PARENT CONTACT SHEET “Fammm Empnosa we mgzpmz uwwwumam ucmsucwoaa< Lo meagm ”cocumz umHUMpcou comgma hmmzm Hu