Abstract

Foster care is a temporary family-based placement for children whose parents cannot take care of them. A good matching between the foster family and the child might improve the outcomes of this placement. This qualitative study explored the professional decision of matching a child with a non-kinship foster family in the child protection system. We conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with professionals working in foster care agencies in five regions of Chile. Applying the hierarchical content analysis, we identified five central constructs related to the case, the caregiver, the child, the organization, and the decision makers. We discussed the preponderance of criteria used by professionals in the process of matching, the relevant content found, and the implications of the findings for research, policy and practice, with a special focus on the implications for the Chilean child protection system.