First, grieving is difficult when the relationship to the lost person was ambivalent or hostile. Foster parents may experience mixed feelings about foster children, especially those who are prone to act out. A second barrier to fully expressing feelings of loss when a child leaves the foster home is the number of other demands placed on foster parents. Usually, there are other foster and biological children still in the home. Foster parents must continue to attend to these children, leaving little opportunity to express themselves.
Expectations can be another barrier.
It may be an unspoken expectation that foster parents should not get too attached to the children in their homes. The final barrier has to do with differences in individual personalities. Assessing the impacts on foster parent retention.