O contacto no acolhimento familiar: Discursos, representações e desafios para o desenvolvimento da relação entre famílias e profissionais

This study intends to reflect on the results of contact, to identify the obstacles to its accomplishment and to analyse how the families of origin, the foster families and the professionals of the technical teams are related, as well as how they perceive and evaluate the reality. A methodological triangulation has been used, based on the analysis of the interviews with the families of origin, the foster families and the professionals of the technical teams, carried out in a sample of 10 hosts of the Porto district. The results show that it is important: to develop processes of regulated cooperation, which improve communication and the relationship between the professionals and the carers, and essentially between these actors and the families of origin; to develop a more attentive and available work with the parents, to support the separation, monito- ring and recovery of parental competences; to provide resources to facilitate travel and support the expenses of the visits; and to promote training and educational support procedures that clarify the processes, roles, purposes and potential outcomes of decisions, specifically addressing issues of cultural diversity.