Between Normative Standards and the Institutional Practice of Foster Care in the City of East Sarajevo

Abstract

Foster care represents one of the key forms of alternative care for children without parental care and is normatively grounded in both international and domestic regulations. Although formal standards emphasize the principle of the best interests of the child, placement stability, and systemic support to the family, their implementation at the local level is often confronted with institutional constraints. This paper analyses foster care practice in the City of East Sarajevo, with a focus on the relationship between normative standards and their application within the local institutional context. The analysis is based on a secondary processing of empirical material collected for the purposes of a master’s thesis, including administrative quantitative data and qualitative findings obtained through interviews with professionals and foster families. The findings indicate a limited scope of formal foster care, reliance on kinship-based care arrangements, uneven staffing capacities of social work centres, and the need to strengthen systemic support for foster families. The paper points to a gap between the normative framework and operational practice and raises the question of the institutional preconditions necessary for a more consistent implementation of family-based forms of alternative care for children.