Action Research

Foster Care Systems Action Research Project

Sylvia Parks

Kaplan University

GM505 Action Research and Consulting Skills

Dr. Rita Gunzelman

May 29, 2011

Foster Care Systems Action Research Project

This section of this paper will focus on the outcome of my action research project. “Action research is powerful because of its ability to allow researchers to tentatively state the problem, then refine and reframe the study by continuing interactions of the Look-Think-Act research cycle” (Stringer, 2007 p. 239). Action research is distinguished by escalating cycles of problem recognition, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, data-driven action taken, and problem redefinition (Kemmis, 1981). I will provide a detailed description of steps that I took to performing my action research project in the following areas:

1. Data collection methods

2. Analyzing data and evaluation method

3. Result

Scope and Purpose

Over half a million children are in foster care or some other kind of out of home placement today. As the number of licensed foster homes has dropped to a low of 100,000 for the nations' estimated 500,000 foster care children, so has the quality of foster care homes unquestionably diminished over the years. The number of children in foster care has grown over the last decade and there has increased more than 80 percent greater than previous decades. (ACF, 2010)

My motivation for beginning this action project research on the topic of the foster care system in Georgia is because I recently became a foster parent. I found myself being forced to take in more children than I initially signed up for. I found out that the Department of Family and Children Services Foster Care System did not have ample amount of qualified foster parent to help with the amount of children in foster care. I wanted to find a solution to my problem. I believe that if a resolution is not found, more foster parents will quit from being foster parents, this will cause...