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This study examined the stability (or instability) of 29 foster placements of unaccompanied refugee children, including how stability was related, inter alia, to the cultural matching of children and caregivers from the perspectives of the children, foster caregivers, and guardians over a one-year period. Several dimensions of stability were assessed, such as placement stability (continuing versus disrupted placements at T1; the second measurement), stability in placement success, and stability in child and fostering factors (i.e., placement development from the baseline [T0] to T1). From the perspectives of the children, caregivers, and guardians, most placements in which children stayed in the same foster family over time remained relatively stable in terms of child and fostering factors and placement success. According to the caregivers, however, the children’s social-emotional problems showed a significant increase over time. The children’s and caregivers’ appreciation of their cultural similarity tended to fluctuate over time. Notably, the children’s appreciation of cultural similarity in terms of religion decreased significantly. Most of the children in disrupted placements showed improved or stable results for child factors at T1. Moreover, with reference to the findings measured at T0, we observed differences between children who were still living with the same foster families and those who were living elsewhere at T1. From the perspectives of the foster caregivers and guardians, the former fared better than the latter, as indicated by the baseline measurements.

The aim of the study was to evaluate foster placements of unaccompanied refugee children based on the child’s, the foster carers’ and guardians’ perspectives. We aimed to gain insight into placement success and related child and fostering factors, as well as development of these factors within one year. Special attention was paid to 'cultural matching', whereby children are placed with foster carers with a similar cultural background as the children. Overall, we can conclude that children, their foster carers and guardians are positive about the success of their foster placements. The quality of the relationship between the child and carers had an almost one-to-one relationship with placement success. Cultural similarity with carers appears to be important for the child’s placement success, especially in the early stages of their stay; for carers and guardians this was less important. In addition, the absence of behavioral problems and presence of pro-social behavior in the child is positively associated with placement success for carers and children resp., while for guardians the quality of the caregiving environment counts most. Children and carers or guardians disagree more on the success of the placement when they disagree on the quality of the caregiving environment, the child’s conduct and emotional problems, and the quality of the child-carer and child-guardian relationship. Most placements in which children stayed in the same foster family over the one-year timeframe of the study remained relatively stable in terms of child and fostering factors, with an important exception: according to the carers, there often is an increase in the child’s social-emotional problems.

There is hardly knowledge regarding the perspectives of unaccompanied refugee children or carers on the foster placement (Hek, 2007; Ni Raghallaigh & Sirreyeh, 2015), including the influence of cultural similarity between children and foster carers on the success of the placement. This study explores the (cultural) factors that are related to successful placements of these children in foster families. Semi-structured interviews were held with a (convenience) sample of unaccompanied refugee children who were living in foster families in the Netherlands (n=5), their foster carers, and their guardians. Additionally, refugee children who previously lived in a foster family (n=5) were also included in the study. At the end of each interview, all participants were asked to rate the success of the foster placement. Results show that children were aware that the alternative (to foster care) was worse and that the guardian could play an important role as mediator. Additionally, children with family in the Netherlands were more satisfied with their placement than children without family in the Netherlands. Children whose expectations were not met were less satisfied. Also, most children value the importance of cultural similarity between them and their carers. Implications for policy and practice will be discussed.