Foster parents between voluntarism and professionalisation: Unpacking the backpack

Foster care is currently preferred over institutional care when children are in the care of the state. There seems to be a consensus on the voluntary origins of foster care, nonetheless there also seems to be a growing momentum for the professionalisation of this form of youth care. We contribute to the debate by means of an analysis of 33 semi-structured interviews with foster families in Flanders, exploring the tensions between voluntaristic...