Children in foster care: a nursing perspective on research, policy, and child health issues.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the roles of public policy and poverty on the rising number of children in family foster care, and to examine the impact of different types of family foster care on children's well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
Recent changes in welfare legislation increase the likelihood of family poverty, with a subsequent increase in the number of children in out-of-home care. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on preventing entry into out-of-home care, improving the quality of foster care, and giving children a voice in care decisions.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses have important roles to play in the prevention of family dissolution, the design of healthcare delivery systems for children in foster care, in evaluating and educating all types of foster families, and as advocates in legal and legislative proceedings.
Gottesman
M M
MM
Ohio State University, College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, USA. gottesman.6@osu.edu
D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure; D009729:Nursing; D011203:Poverty; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011640:Public Policy; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States