Therapeutic foster care, a support mechanism to be interpreted: A study (in progress) of the evolution of former foster children

This mixed-method research aims to evaluate the life course of former children who were admitted to therapeutic foster care. The evaluation considers the histories of 58 former children fostered between 1971 and 1996, and was carried out by means of an innovative combination of tools including an open and then semi-directed interview, along with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Subjective Functional and Socio-Affective Impact [Retentissement Fonctionnel et Socio-affectif subjectif, RFS] questionnaire, and the CaMir test, a tool that emerged out of the concept of attachment. The interview is analyzed according to two methods: narrativity (Edicode) and Grounded Theory. Our preliminary results show representations of attachment comparable to those of the general population. They differ from the results found with children placed in other foster care arrangements. In addition, initial discourse analyses indicate the importance of a progress report as something that is useful, or even necessary, some years after a young adult placement.