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FOSTER CARE GIVEN BY GRANDPARENTS
VALIHRACHOVÁ, Monika
Foster Care Given by Grandparents Abstract Substitute family care is a form of child care where a child is brought up by foster parents in an environment that is the most similar to living in a natural family. The most frequent forms of substitute family care in the Czech Republic are adoption and foster care. Only 2 % of these children are {\clqq}absolute`` orphans, the remaining 98 % are social orphans. These children have their own families, but the families either can´t or don´t want to take care of them. This thesis is concentrates on the foster care provided by grandparents. This type of foster care has its own specificities, which are introduced in this thesis. Data chosen for this thesis was obtained by qualitative research with the utilization of halfstructured, in-depth interviews. The results are case studies of five women, aged 20 {--} 30, who are or were fostered by grandparents. Statistics from the Vysočina region and the Region of South Bohemia are complementary information. This concrete data was obtained from municipal offices of municipal corporations of the Vysočina region and from the office of substitute family care of the regional authority of the Jihočeský region in České Budějovice. The aim of this bachelor thesis was the appreciation of specific characteristics of foster care provided by grandparents in choice families and the evalutation of the amount of children placed in foster care and tutelage (wardship) in the Jihočeský and Vysočina region per year 2007. Characteristics of foster care provided by grandparents were described. The number of children placed in foster care and tutelage in the South Bohemian and Vysočina region was only partially evaluated. This thesis has used qualitative research; it is not possible to generalize these results. The results of this thesis might be useful for all who are concerned with substitute family care. Special contributions have been made especially from these case studies, which describe the inception, process, positives, negatives and impact of foster care provided by grandparents and from the perspective of children (women), since research in this topic is quite rare.
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