The evaluations of foster families about the foster family model: The case of Zonguldak

One of the most effective family-support-based practices in the field of Child Welfare for children in need of protection is foster care. The aim of this study is to reveal the observations, experiences and opinions of foster families who are the implementers of foster family service model in the foster family processes. It is also to contribute to the work to be carried out for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Foster Family Model in Turkey, starting from the example of Zonguldak and dissemination of these services. The Research Data Model was used in the research. 81 foster parents in Zonguldak province participated in the study. Interview Form prepared by the researcher was used as data collection tool. Data collected as a result of interview forms and file scans were analyzed through "SPSS 20 Package Program". Most of the foster families, who have benefited from the Long-Term Foster Family Model, stated that their lives gained meaning and changed after becoming a foster family. On the other hand, the biggest reason for the lack of widespread foster family service is that people do not consider taking care of a child as a social responsibility although they say that they generally love children very much. In the study, while there was no relationship between the gender of the foster parents and having problems with the foster children, it was found that there was a significant relationship between having problems with the foster children and the foster families as the education levels of the foster families increased. In our country, the institution, society and the media have important duties to promote foster family model; especially in foster family education; necessary studies should be carried out to provide education to families and to develop new education programs. Keywords: Foster parent, foster family service, social worker, child welfare system