Children enter the Child Welfare System for a variety of complex reasons.
These reasons often point towards parents’ inability to provide appropriate
protection and safety for their children. After removal, many children are placed in
foster homes of relatives, non-related extended family members, group homes,
and county or private foster homes. A child who is removed from their original
home is likely to experience difficulties in the areas of attachment with caregivers
and other adults throughout their development.
This study examined the attachment styles of 37 foster and adoptive parents in
three separate private Foster Family Agencies in both San Bernardino and
Riverside Counties. Foster and adoptive parents were assessed through the
Relationship Questionnaire through a tool, which examined each parent’s level of
attachment security. The perspectives of foster and adoptive parents on their
child’s relational attachments were assessed through The Behavioral
Assessment System of Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) across seven subsets
(Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004)
