Effects of formal center-based care and positive parenting practices on children in foster care

Background: The current study examined whether children in foster care have better cognitive and social-emotional outcomes at kindergarten age when they enroll in formal center-based care and when they receive positive parenting practices at home.Objective: Two primary questions were addressed: (1) Do children in foster care who attended formal center-based care (including Head Start) have higher cognitive and socio-emotional out-comes than children in foster care who did not attend formal center-based care? (2) Does positive parenting practice promote better cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes? Participants and setting: Based on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-K: 2011 data, 299 children in foster care were selected.Methods: Regression analyses were conducted on children's cognitive and social-emotional scores by types of children's childcare arrangements (formal vs informal care) and positive parenting practices. Active parental involvement was measured based on how frequently parents read books with their children, and authoritarian parenting discipline was measured based on whether parents spanked their children.Results: Children in foster care who enrolled in formal center-based childcare at pre-school age have higher cognitive and socio-emotional scores at kindergarten age. Positive parenting practice also promotes children's outcomes. Children in foster care who are both enrolled in formal center -based care and experience positive parenting practice had the most positive outcomes.Conclusions. Parents raising children in foster care should be informed about the positive impacts of certain parenting practices on their children. Foster parents should be connected to available community resources, including formal-center-based preschool programs and required to continuously attend parenting classes to sustain positive impact of parenting practice on foster children.