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Subjects

foster care, siblings, Latinx, familism, social work, child welfare

Abstract

Relationships between members of sibling groups have been found to impact well-being for children who enter foster care (Herrick & Piccus, 2005). Being placed in stranger foster care is often challenging and can be traumatic with children reporting confusion, worry, and loss of identity and sense of belonging (Herrick & Piccus, 2005, Unrau et al, 2008). While there is some research that explores the experiences of siblings groups in foster care and others separately that examines Latinx children in foster care, there is very little information that looks into the potentially unique experiences of Latinx individuals who were in care with siblings that also accounts for cultural nuance.

This study used a mixed-methods exploratory design with a demographic questionnaire and interview components that answers the research question: How do various factors affect the experiences of Latinx foster youth in care with siblings? Participants were invited to be interviewed either in person or over the phone. A constant comparative analytic method was used to analyze the interview transcripts to identify common themes. This exploratory study begins to discuss how social work practitioners and foster placements can better support this specific population of children in care. Findings suggest the importance of listening to foster youth and hearing their voices, understanding the role responsibility plays in familial relationships in the Latinx culture, and culturally responsive and individualized knowledge and care from social workers and foster placements.

DOI

10.15760/mcnair.2021.15.1.2

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/36602

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