title: Understanding the antecedents to recruiting foster care and adoptive parents: a comparison of white and African-American families.
abstract: In response to the "chronic shortage" of caregiving families, social marketing campaigns recruiting parents for foster care and special needs adoption are becoming increasingly important for child welfare agencies. This study attempts to fill the void in the understanding of the antecedents that impact the decision to enroll in programs designed to help children in need. The findings from a large-scale study show that knowledge of the process and select motives positively impact involvement likelihood. In contrast, psychological barriers, concern about the enrolment process, negative perceptions of children in need, and fear are detriments to consideration likelihood. African-American families were found to be more receptive and had fewer psychological concerns surrounding the decision process.
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 53190, USA. Helma@uww.edu
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helm
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Peltier
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scovotti
mesh_terms: D000300:Adoption / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005239:Fear; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents; D040241:Social Marketing; D014481:United States; D044465:White People; D000078329:Workforce