Foster Care: The Retention Crisis
Publication Date
Spring 4-16-2025
Presentation Length
60 minutes
College
Interdisciplinary Studies & Global Education
Department
Honors Program
Student Level
Undergraduate
SPARK Category
Knowledge
Faculty Advisor
Hilary Taft
WELL Core Type
Emotional Wellness
Metadata/Fulltext
Fulltext
SPARK Session
9:15-10:15 am
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Summary
This project addresses complex vs. complicated problems in foster care, specifically the retention crisis. The project includes interviewing churches, outside organizations, and Belmont Innovation lab members to grasp why community and church involvement is vital to a foster family continuing to foster. We will begin by addressing a scholarly question, move to research, then a documentary video, and finally, a call to action. The research that was included in this presentation includes topics such as studies of complex vs. complicated problems, Human-Centered Design, action-based research, and church involvement in foster care throughout history.
The interviews included specific questions about the organization directly but also broad questions that addressed successes and room for improvement in the organization itself. Topics of the interviews include WRAP teams, the importance of community around foster families, and a call to action to members of society to be involved in this work. Whether churches or outside organizations, all participated in giving personal attributions to their passion and desire for the work to grow and succeed, as well as suggestions for how working with retention can be improved.
The call to action after research and development of knowledge includes a desire for students to be involved in the work with retention. This idea would consist of bringing students into this work through student engagement and organization that is hosted on college campuses. The organization will be crafted to students' ability and lead them to grow connections with foster families and provide a source of community.
Recommended Citation
Glass, S. (2025, March 19). Personal Interview. Schwieterman, M. (2025, March 24). Personal Interview. DeVries, A. (2025, March 24). Personal Interview. Cochran, E. (2025, March 30). Personal Interview. Avison, D. E. (1999). Action research. Communications of the ACM, 42(1), 94-99. Lee, J. S., & Wolf-Branigin, M. (n.d.). Applying Complex Adaptive Systems to Build Interdisciplinary Collaborations and Aid in Understanding Complicated Social Phenomena. Miller, J. H., & Page, S. E. (2007). Complexity and the Social Sciences: An Overview. Güpin, G., & Murphy, J. (2008). Complex Systems in Social Work: A Conceptual Overview. Fish, A., & Hardy, M. (2015). Complexity Theory in Social Work: A New Approach to Practice.
