The Meaning of Family and Home:

The Experience of Living as a Biological Child of Foster Parents

Abstract

    In response to international trends, Japan is currently clarifying its policies to promote family care and family-like care for children who are in out-of-home care. In the midst of such a movement, the author is involved in the promotion of the appointment of foster parents as well as in research and the implementation of support for foster parents from the perspective of social work and child/family well-being.
    However, the opportunity that I was offered this time is to provide my opinion not as a researcher but as someone who grew up with foster children as the biological child of a foster family.
    I recall spending my early childhood with children at the Japanese children's home where my parents worked as staff members. After retiring from the children's home, my parents became foster parents and established a family group home, and my post-teenage years were spent helping them foster many children. I also remember my time spent in providing foster care. During this time, I remember being aware of the difference in quality between foster care and residential care. In this paper, I intend to touch on the relationships that I developed while providing foster care through several events and discuss the various social challenges facing diverse families by considering the meaning of family and home.