Foster Care, Part 1-4. Options in Education Program Nos. 276-279.

These transcriptions reproduce four National Public Radio interviews with individuals concerned with and involved in the provision of foster care to children and youth. The interviews cover a wide range of topics, including previous traumatic experiences of children brought into foster care, the low level of remuneration provided to foster parents, and dynamics of foster child and foster parent relationships. Stress experienced by the foster child who is a candidate for adoption, problems of managing attachment and disengagement, relationships between biological and foster children, as well as needs, concerns and troubles of foster children are explored. Additional interviews focus on aspects of the relationship between the courts and the foster family. Controversy among judges and caseworkers and problems in coordinating requirements of the social service system and the interests of the child and the community are probed. The interviews then return to focus more closely on the foster children in order to depict their hopes and aspirations. In conclusion, recommendations for improving foster care delivery systems are advanced and legislative initiatives in California are briefly critiqued. (Author/RH)