FOSTER CARE FOR ADULTS AND ELDERLY PERSONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

The main goal of non-institutional forms of care is to enable the individual that is in social protection need to remain in their social environment, where she/he will get all necessary care depending on their specifi c needs. One of the possibilities of non-institutional care for adults, elderly and disabled person is a foster care that is regulated by the Foster Care Law. Benefi ts of foster care over institutional care are family environment, shorter waiting lists for accommodation, lower cost of care, easier adaptation to new living conditions, greater opportunities to provide quality care in relation to the specifi c needs of users. One of the priorities of social policy in the Republic of Croatia is to fi nd new, economical way and form of social care for adults and elderly people that could meet their needs in the way that fi nancial burden of care do not jeopardize the economic stability and social development. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of legal framework of foster care for adults and elderly people and to show statistics data from 2003 till now. Finally, there is an evident absence of research in this fi eld and lack of development models and programs to improve this form of care. Understanding the situation of foster care and improving the current professional standards of quality, contributes to improving the quality of foster care and protect the dignity of persons in care.