(Ad)ministering Love: Providing Family Foster Care to Infants With Prenatal Substance Exposure

Abstract

A significant percentage of children in foster care in North America are younger than 1 year of age and are in foster care because of parental substance use and other social challenges. Infants might present with specific health and behavioral issues that are challenging to manage within the foster family home environment; foster families require specialized skills and knowledge to manage these issues. In this article, the author describes a constructivist grounded theory of the process of becoming and providing family foster caregiving in the context of caring for infants with prenatal alcohol and/or drug exposure. The basic social process of (ad)ministering love was identified. The author further describes the three phases of this process and the core concepts within each phase.