Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)
Department
Occupational Therapy
First Advisor
Anne Haskins
Abstract
Children placed in out-of-home care have an 80% chance of having a mental health diagnosis or experiencing negative behaviors related to trauma experiences (Armstrong-Hiemsoth et al., 2020). Children in foster care have been exposed to trauma by being removed from their biological parents and the abuse, neglect, or unsafe conditions that occurred leading up to the removal and placement in out-of-home care (Bartlett, 2021). From this trauma, a child is more likely to experience difficulty with basic self-care skills, executive functioning, emotional regulation, attachment disorders, or positive interactions and relationships within the foster home and their environment (Pervis et al., 2013). Current trauma-informed programming created for foster parents and foster care professionals are aimed toward providing education to stakeholders about the prevalence of trauma and how trauma impacts a foster child and the child’s functioning (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, 2022). While these programs are important to give foundational information about trauma-informed parenting, many current programs do not provide easy to implement solutions for addressing children’s trauma behaviors (Bartlett & Rushovich, 2018). Barriers to current programing are the cost of the education, the educational level requirements of the programming, and the ease of usability and implementation of the programming (Bartlett & Rushovich, 2018).
Recommended Citation
Knust, Emily A., "Fostering a Loving Connection: A Foster Parent’s Toolkit for Understanding and Addressing Behaviors for Children Placed in Out-of-Home Care" (2023). Occupational Therapy Capstones. 562.
https://commons.und.edu/ot-grad/562