A comparison of family foster parents who quit, consider quitting, and plan to continue fostering

We examine why some foster families continue to foster whereas others do not. Reasons for quitting include lack of agency support, poor communication with caseworkers, lack of say in foster children's future, and difficulties with foster children's behavior. As compared with continuing foster parents, former foster parents and foster parents planning to quit say that they receive less postlicensure training and are less likely to have a foster-parent mentor. As compared with continuing and former foster parents, current foster parents planning to quit are more likely to say they need day care, transportation, and help with health-care costs.