Term of Award

Fall 2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Digital Commons@Georgia Southern License

Department

Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading

Committee Chair

Peggy Shannon-Baker

Committee Member 1

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 2

Robert Lake

Committee Member 3

Maria Lotty

Abstract

There exists a crisis within the U.S. social welfare program regarding the support and training provided to new foster parents (Cooley et al., 2019; MacGregor et al., 2006). Foster care aims to offer a stable environment until children can be reunified, adopted, or placed in permanent arrangements (Georgia Department of Human Services, 2022). Using trauma theory and trauma-informed care (Caruth, 2016; Felman & Laub, 1992; Lotty, 2021), I explored my journey as a foster parent through arts-based narrative inquiry. Personal stories, journals, emails, and photographs offer prospective foster parents with insights into the experience, addressing practical aspects, challenges, and outcomes. My literature review highlights the history of the U.S. foster care system (Rymph, 2018), and the effects of COVID-19 on marginalized foster youth (Aparicio et al., 2023; Vallejo-Slocker et al., 2022). I examined building resilience in foster youth (Greeson, Briggs, et al., 2022; Lotty et al., 2021), and the needs of foster parents (Bergsund et al., 2020; Cooley et al., 2017; Kaasbøll et al., 2019). I used narrative inquiry (Clandinin, 2006; Webster & Mertova, 2007), arts-based research (Bochner & Ellis, 2003), and comics (Harvey, 2005; Pratt, 2009) to explore trauma-informed caregiving. I then presented stories based on my experiences with embedded comics into the major topics of foster youth behavioral challenges and supports for foster youth and caregivers. The final chapter describes the meanings I ascribed to my stories, comics, and experiences related to resiliency and safety, trauma-informed care approaches, successes in learning adulting skills, improvements in social-emotional wellness for foster placements, mental health challenges among foster youth, difficulties in building appropriate relationships, self-care techniques for foster parents, training opportunities, and the impact of incorporating comics into the author’s foster care journey. My dissertation emphasizes the need for trauma-informed care, offering strategies to support foster children’s emotional and psychological well-being. I also call for examining foster parents’ cultural biographies in curriculum studies. Future research should focus on “respite before fostering,” with new methods recommended to improve foster care practices. The overall aim is to enhance care for vulnerable children and provide better tools for their supporters.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

Yes

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