CHAPTER 16 foster Care Stigma and Ethical Boundary Violations in the Rural Child Welfare Workplace LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe the phenomenon of living in a “goldfish bowl” in rural areas Identify the laws and administrative procedures for protecting the rights of foster children to confidentiality Identify how the new worker in this vignette was retraumatized “by the system” List ways to build a supportive environment for colleagues and supervisees FOSTER CARE STIGMA AND BOUNDARIES Child welfare workforce recruitment and retention are particularly needed in rural areas as the loss of a single worker can significantly decrease and disrupt child welfare services. One strategy for building and retaining child welfare workers is to generate “homegrown” providers (Belanger & Stone, 2008). This means that a person who grew up in a rural area is more likely to continue to live and work in a rural area. They may be more accli mated to the “informal” nature of many rural areas, including what some -J. ANGELIQUE DAY (174)