This records series consists of administrative records and research materials collected during the course of the project. The administrative records include project proposals, progress reports, and correspondence with cooperating social service agencies and interviewers. The correspondence with agencies consists of monthly report forms listing the names of foster families, foster children, and the status of cases referred to the project. Most correspondence concerns relations with the agencies, suggestions for improvements in interviewing techniques, and problem cases, irregularities, and missing interviews.
The remainder of the research records consists of information collected by the research project on the foster families included in the two in-depth studies of placements in new and experienced (non-new) foster homes. These records consist of four sets of case files which contain copies of interview schedules and copies of interview transcripts (when transcripts were made) of interviews with foster parents and social workers supervising placements in these homes. The four sets of case files contain: 1) data collected from interviews with new foster families, 2) data collected from social worker process interviews supervising placements with new foster families, 3) data collected from interviews with non-new foster families, and 4) data collected from social worker process interviews supervising placements with non-new foster families.
Most of the records on new foster families consists of one case file for each of the 145 new foster families. Each case file contains a copy of the initial interview schedules (Schedules 401 and 402), copies of transcripts of these interviews when they were made, and copies of the “process” interview schedules and transcripts when available. There is also one set of case files for each family containing copies of interview schedules and some transcripts of interviews with the social worker supervising each placement. Both sets of case files are arranged numerically by the unique case number assigned to each case by the project staff.
Some additional information on new foster families is recorded in thumbnail sketches of the initial interviews, sketches of the foster parent attitude questionnaire and of personal reactions, and occasional thumbnail sketches of process interviews. The thumbnail sketches were written by the interviewers and provide a summary evaluation of each case and comments on any peculiarities. Some demographic data on the foster family, the natural family, and the foster child are also included in these records. Also included are a few transcripts of initial interviews with families that were not included in the in-depth study.
A parallel set of records exists to document the in-depth study of 81 non-new families.
