Separation and psychosocial challenges of parents with children in foster care

Abstract

Parents of children placed in out-of-home care experience intense loss followed by prolonged grief that often goes unrecognized and unvalidated by the public. Child removal frequently exacerbates parents’ pre-existing mental health issues, fostering dependence on unhealthy copying strategies and intensifying feeling of isolation and loneliness due to a lack of social support. This qualitative study explored the psychosocial challenges faced by parents after the removal of their children. The sample comprised 38 parents, including mothers and fathers, whose children had been placed in foster care. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, parents shared their experiences following the child removal process. Analysis of the interview data found that child removal constituted a profoundly traumatic experience for these parents, highlighting parents’ experiences of loss, suffering, hopelessness, disenfranchised grief. Such experiences and consequent challenges associated with the removal could lead to an increased isolation, depression, loneliness, loss of identity, and a broken connection with their children. These findings underscore the need for support for parents working toward reunification that considers such experiences and to promote overall parental well-being.