Foster care provides temporary care for children who are unable to remain with their biological parents. When a child enters foster care, they are placed with foster parents who take over the day-to-day care and nurturing of the child. Whereas the biological parents still maintain legal rights and are often actively working towards reunification.
This creates a complex relationship between the foster parents and biological parents that requires clear boundaries. Both sets of parents play important but distinct roles in the child’s life during this difficult period, which is why establishing boundaries helps ensure that they work collaboratively toward the child’s best interests.
Setting the appropriate boundaries between foster parents and biological parents will provide stability and structure for the child, allowing him/her to thrive. As long as the boundaries are defined, adhered to, and respected by both parties, their shared common goal of keeping the child well, healthy, and safe will be accomplished.
What are Boundaries?
Boundaries are guidelines and expectations that help manage interactions between people. Clear boundaries are especially important in foster care situations where the roles of foster parents and biological parents can become blurred.
Types of Boundaries
There are three main types of boundaries to consider between foster parents and biological parents:
- Emotional boundaries refer to managing feelings and expectations between the two sets of parents. Both need to set limits on emotional involvement to maintain their specific parenting roles.
- Physical boundaries address appropriate physical contact, supervision of visits, personal space, and belongings. Clear guidelines help provide structure and prevent misunderstandings.
- Communication boundaries cover the frequency, timing, and means of communication allowed between the foster and biological parents. This helps ensure that communication remains appropriate and constructive.
Factors Influencing the Need for Clear Boundaries
Several factors make clear boundaries essential in foster care:
- The temporary nature of the arrangement
- The need to prevent confusing or undermining the child
- Maintaining objectivity to make the best decisions for the child’s well-being
- Allowing all parties to carry out their responsibilities effectively
- Managing risks associated with blurring parenting roles
- Providing stability while the child’s long-term placement is determined
Establishing constructive boundaries from the outset lets all parties understand their roles in working cooperatively while keeping the child’s interests first.
Setting Boundaries
When there are boundaries being set between foster parents and biological parents, there needs to be an objective view that tries to seek the best for every party, but especially for the child. Pondering questions like “How much of a relationship will the foster parent try to establish with the birth parent?” “How are special occasions going to be handled?” or “What are the preferred methods of communication?” can help you create a framework of the boundaries to set in place.
Once there’s a framework, the parents should discuss if the boundaries seem appropriate and, if not, offer alternative boundaries that can work. In this exercise, you might find there are compromises to be made by both parties, but ultimately, the rules will benefit everyone involved.
For this to work, the parents should have clear communication, respect for each other’s role, focus on the child’s best interests, flexibility, adaptability, and understanding of the right to privacy on both sides. Although you might have all these factors, the truth is that navigating boundaries between foster parents and biological parents can still be complicated, which is why seeking advice from a professional can be a huge help.
A professional can devise an effective course of action through the unique circumstances of each parent, ensuring that the child’s well-being is at the forefront of any boundaries being set. They can mediate conflicts, offer an informed perspective, and provide strategies to cope with the set boundaries. Social workers, licensed therapists, and lawyers are amongst the best professionals you can seek to guide you on this journey.
What Can Boundaries Between Foster Parents and Biological Parents Look Like?
Taking emotional, physical, and communication boundaries into consideration, a few examples of boundaries between foster parents and biological parents are:
- Not interfering with the biological parent’s determined contact and visitation with the child
- Respecting and maintaining the foster parent’s role as primary caregiver and decision-maker
- Agreeing on preferred methods of communication and set hours
- Refraining from discussing private matters of the placement or personal situations with the child
- Limiting communication to only child-related issues, avoiding sharing personal life stories between the parents
- Having a neutral third party mediate conflict to ease tensions
- Allowing participation in special occasions, such as birthdays, school events, and extracurricular activities
- Compromising on parenting approaches like discipline and rules
- Scheduling regular status updates regarding the child
- Not allowing unsupervised alone time between the child and adults
- Not forcing emotional intimacy or physical affection from the child
Setting compassionate emotional boundaries, firm physical boundaries, and thoughtful communication boundaries can demonstrate maturity and professionalism, prevent misunderstandings, model healthy relationships, and, most importantly, prioritize care for the child’s well-being.
Conclusion
Establishing healthy boundaries between foster parents and biological parents is crucial for creating a supportive environment for children in foster care. Being placed in foster care is already a complicated process for the child, which is why parents should try to work together and maintain the boundaries necessary to make the situation as comfortable for the child as possible.
Do keep in mind that the legal side of setting boundaries between foster parents and biological parents can be complex. There are laws designed to protect the rights of both sets of parents, and the specifics of custody agreements, visitation rights, and termination of parental rights make each case unique. Familiarize yourself with the laws in your country or state and get guidance from law professionals regarding foster care boundaries.
With patience, empathy, and mutual effort, foster and biological parents can form a united front to provide stability, nurturing, and support for the foster child. Keeping a cooperative approach and focusing on the child’s well-being while being respectful of the set boundaries will allow the child to thrive and the parents to maintain a healthy relationship while making the best of the situation.
Leon Joseph Smith is the founder and CEO of Therapeutic Family Life, a child-placing and adoption agency with 30 years of experience. With licenses and certificates including LPC, LMFT, LCDC, BCIA, CCDS, and SOTP, Leon brings a wealth of expertise to his role. He has a strong background in counseling, having served children and adolescents with severe emotional and mental disabilities. Leon's focus has always been on providing a "win-win" situation for everyone involved, ensuring the emotional stability of foster children, the expertise of caregivers, and compliance with state regulations. His compassionate approach has been the cornerstone of Therapeutic Family Life's success.About This Author
Leon Smith
