Do Children Placed in Institutions Have the Same Opportunities for Reintegration into Their Families of Origin as Those Placed in Foster Care?

The purpose of this study was to follow up on a study that found that, for 70% of children in foster care, social workers felt that family reintegration was not an option. We therefore continued the study by comparing the prospects for family reintegration of 661 children placed in institutions with those of 568 children placed in foster care.
Our results show that institutional social workers assess the possibilities of reintegration as being higher than for children in foster care, while in reality the number of children in the process of reintegration is identical in both populations. However, in spite of these favorable possibilities, when workers with foster families and in institutions are asked about the specific plan for a child, only 30% of children have a possible reintegration plan with one of the parents.
These results demonstrate the need to rethink the assistance offered to parents to promote family reintegration. They suggest that an intensive, multidisciplinary assistance program should be developed. At the end of this program, if reintegration into the family is not possible, we should move toward permanent foster care or foster care with definite prospects. This type of project should also be enabled by changing the legislative framework in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.