When you discuss family-based care and talk about the option of foster care in a country where formal foster care is not present, the reaction you often get is: ‘Oh, but foster care is a foreign idea, it is not part of our culture and it would never work here.’ Interestingly enough this argument is used as a reason to stick to institutionalisation of children.
This is pretty ironic, because institutionalisation of children is definitely a foreign idea that was brought over by colonialists and missionaries, while when you take a closer look, foster care does not turn out to be all that foreign at all.
As I have described before in a blog (HERE), gathering children in institutions and ‘orphanages’ was almost certainly a European invention, with its roots in Catholicism. It was spread around the world – and forced down people’s throats – by missionaries and colonialist. So, technically wanting to get rid of colonialist influences is a good argument for moving away from institutional care for children. However, because this influence was spread across the world one or more centuries ago, most people do not recognise it as ‘foreign’ anymore, it has become part of life.
Then the other side of the argument: no need to introduce so-called Western ways by starting foster care. It is true that there is still a small number of countries that do not have a formal foster care system, or where foster care is only a small-scale operation – possibly run by NGOs rather than by the state. However, how sure are you that there is no basis for foster care in your own culture? I’m not sure at all, to be honest.
In most of the countries where this argument is used, there is a very strong informal care system. This means that most vulnerable children who are unable to live with their parents are cared for by people from their extended family or from their community, without the state ever getting involved. Most people would not hesitate to take in their nieces and nephews if something happened to their brothers or sisters. They would likely be happy to do the same for cousins or even more distantly related children. There are also plenty of people who will take in the children of a good friend, or of another member of the community.
Although this is not part of a formal, monitored foster care system, if this is not foster care, would you mind explaining to me what it is? Because as far as I can tell, it is people taking in children who are not their own and raising them as part of their family, which is pretty much the definition of foster care.
The difference between this and formal foster care is that in formal foster care there may be financial support to help you cope with the costs involved in raising one or more extra children. And that training and support are provided, to make sure that both you and the foster child are able to cope with any problems that may arise along the way. And there will be monitoring of the well-being of the child, to make sure she is not exploited or abused. To me all those things mostly seem like bonuses on top of what has been done in a non-formal way for many centuries by one generation after another already.
Let’s get rid of the foreign influence that led to institutionalised children and go back to your own culture’s values of the community looking after its children, in a family situation.
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