Is it more important to have more foster parents with less strict regulations or less foster parents with more strict regulations?

Question

My mother in law and father in law just got into being foster parents a few years ago and since then there have been a lot of things that I questioned about the system in general. I should mention that where I live it is estimated that there are almost 50,000 children in foster care in Canada. There is also a huge shortage of foster carers in every province. For instance in Ontario in the year 2014-2015 there were about 22,000 kids in foster care and only about 5,000 available homes to place them in. It’s similar in other provinces as well. In order to become a foster parent here the regulations are very strict, you have multiple meetings where they ask you very personal questions, multiple house inspections a year, you have to make some safety modifications to your home, etc. all of which is great to ensure children go to a great home but may be part of the reason some people don’t want to go through the process of doing it. Also due to this shortage they are allowed to place many children per home and don’t seem to take capabilities into account, someone in their 60’s or 70’s could be looking after 4 or 5 children at a time, some babies, some violent, etc. all under one roof which I’m sure no matter what your age would be trying but I would imagine it gets harder as you age. They also have odd stipulations on moving children from foster home to foster home. There are provincial CAS foster homes and private foster homes. Private foster homes are often paid more per child to have them, so sometimes if all provincial homes are full they will place a child with a private career until a provincial home becomes available and then move them after they’re settled to save money, but this seems horrible for an already uprooted child. Obviously, no situation is ideal and everyone’s doing their best with the shortage but I can’t help but wonder if there are ways this could be helped and in other countries as well. What do you think? Is there any way to encourage more people to become foster parents?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the regulations. Some need to be very strict to prevent abuse and neglect, others I think are unnecessary hoops to jump through. 
Where I’m at I don’t qualify because I don’t have a drivers license (I just don’t drive, no history of DUI’s or anything). It’s a pointless hurdle in a city where I can get a train, bus, or taxi to take me anywhere I need.

Answer

Quality over quantity

Answer

If people aren't willing to jump through the hoops to become and stay foster parents to ensure the safety of foster children, they don't care enough. I've been through the process with my grandma when she was becoming our foster parent. I went through it again with my guardian. It was parenting classes that were free, being fingerprinted, a home inspection, a background check, etc. They also made a few exceptions for my grandma because she had one felony two decades ago. She still jumped through all the hoops and did everything they asked of her. As did my guardian. It's a long process but not a difficult one and it's well worth it to help children in the system. I fully intend to jump through all those hoops when my children are older and when I'm in a place to better help those kids.

Answer

For me it depends on what regulations they have. Some are obviously necessary, like background checks and occasional home checks. But someone mentioned that they aren’t qualified because they can’t drive which is dumb, and I’m sure there are many more stupid regulations that don’t really help the child that much. I also think it’s wrong to expect someone to be looking after that many children at a time, I’d imagine that’d put people off fostering... They should be trying to make fostering more appealing.

Answer

My friend who has the two adopted daughters is a foster parent (that is how she adopted the girls). She is glad for all the regulations and checks because these girls had been in horrible houses before coming to her.

Answer

I went into foster care for one year, and that was the year i learned what a family is supposed to be like. Once i aged out they dumped me back in my parents house and i was kicked out in less than a day. I've heard lots of bad things about foster families, but my experience i think shows why there are strict rules around it. The foster parents need to be able to handle and help children who aren't as simple as kids who have had that their whole lives. 
Strict rules for who can foster are a good step towards having places actually equipped to help the kids in foster care. If someone less qualifies had gotten me, they likely would not have been able to handle me at that point in my life. It's important. Also- more kids to a home doesn't mean they all get less care. If anything, it's helpful for the kids to have others close to their age who they can connect with.

Answer

Foster carers are there to play a parent role and to love and care for children  so they should act like the way they acted wity there own kids  love and affection  and boundaries  also need to be giving  but also making a child feel safe abs loved

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My friend got molested in foster system my cousin was abused in foster system the system now sucks kids are dying being raped molsted abused and they are stuck there we need more restriction

Answer

That’s tough. On one hand you’ve got kids growing up in group homes (terrible for their emotional well being).  On the other hand you’ve got kids in actual families but some of them might not be safe. 
I suppose most of the hoops foster parents jump through are necessary (although I’m sure there are some that could be eliminated).  But I guess you’ve got to choose child safety over their emotional well being. 😬 As awful as that sounds. But perhaps that’s the (slightly) lesser of the two evils. Maybe pad the group homes with more emotional supports for the kids?

Answer

I dont think foster parents need to be strict. I do think they need to be good though we cant have just anyone being a foster parent. My sister was in a foster home temporarily while transitioning out of a mental hospital and they were horrible to her and the parents little girl stole from her.

Is it more important to have more foster parents with less strict regulations or less foster parents with more strict regulations?

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