Family foster care: a protective alternative for children and adolescents / Acolhimento familiar: uma alternativa de proteção para crianças e adolescentes

Foster care of children and adolescents who have had their rights violated is being discussed both in the scientific literature and in agencies involved in the development of public policies. Such discussions, which aim to define some guidelines to guarantee the right to family and community inclusion, expose a field under change. This paper focuses on foster care in the Brazilian context and presents it as one of the possible alternatives for children and adolescents in risk situations. The (mis)leading influences of some theoretical perspectives that deal with affective bonds in foster care are also discussed. It is argued that a new foster culture requires changes in the conceptions of infancy and youth, in the meanings of affectionate bonds, and in welfare policies for children and adolescents