ABSTRACT
While there is an extensive body of international literature on foster care placement breakdown, little attention has been given to children’s lived experience of this common phenomenon. Using a scoping review method, the study collates and synthesizes what is known about care-experienced people’s lived realities of breakdown. The study followed Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage approach to conducting scoping reviews and adopted a child-centred lens in defining breakdown. The review identified 20 peer-reviewed studies published between January 2015 and December 2024 containing narratives of both children and adults reflecting on breakdown experiences. Reflexive thematic analysis identified two recurrent themes (i) belonging and identity and (ii) communication, voice and agency. Grounded in recognition theory, the review identified breakdown as a time when children’s rights are vulnerable to being violated. For some, breakdown had long-lasting negative impacts including identity harm, while others recalled it as a positively formative experience permeated with their resistance and agency. The study offers a distinct contribution to scholarly work on the topic of breakdown and calls for more research with care-experienced people to strengthen knowledge in the field.