bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties of Looked after Children: Foster Carers' Perspectives and an Indirect Model of Placement Support
Authors: Sargent Kay , O'Brien Kate
Published: March 2013

Recognition of the emotional and behavioural difficulties experienced by looked after children and the impact of these, on both the children and young people and those caring for them, has been increasing. Child and adolescent mental health services have been trying to find better ways of meeting the needs of these children. Kay Sargent and Kate O'Brien draw on an evaluation of a joint social services and health authority project set up to support carers and professionals responsible for children in foster placements. They also seek to give foster carers' perspectives on their foster children's difficulties and the services offered and discuss the issues and implications arising from an indirect approach to providing this support.
The Educational Achievements of Looked after Children: Do Welfare Systems Make a Difference to Outcomes?
Authors: Weyts Arabella
Published: March 2013

Arabella Weyts explores the relationship between welfare tradition and ideology, placement type and educational outcomes by comparing the educational experiences and attainments of older, long-stay looked after children in four countries with contrasting welfare systems. The nature and severity of children's needs were charted to enable like-with-like comparisons. It was found that welfare systems influenced children's placement patterns and use, as well as the services offered. The effects on children's education, however, were less clear cut, although those whose educational needs were met did better in other areas of their life. The implications for childcare policy, international comparisons and the harmonisation of children's services are discussed.
Foster Carers Who Care for Children with Challenging Behaviour: A Total Population Study
Authors: Pithouse Andrew , Lowe Kathy , Hill-Tout Jan
Published: March 2013

Given the concern that those undertaking the foster care task in the UK may not have all the skills and capacities necessary to care for the special needs of looked after children, particularly those with challenging behaviour, it is essential to gain a deeper insight into what carers themselves own by way of personal background, experience and perception about their role. This is important, for if we are to ‘professionalise’ the carer role we need to know more about those in whom we would seek to build capacities in order to make them ‘professional’. Thus we need to know more about carer attitudes, motives and experience in order to design the right sort of capacity-building and not simply to think that a ‘one size fits all’ response of training and support will suffice. Andrew Pithouse, Kathy Lowe and Jan Hill-Tout examine carer characteristics as found in a total population of carers (n = 115) in four neighbouring Welsh unitary authorities caring for all children (n = 114) considered to exhibit challenging behaviour. Selective findings are presented and connected to other relevant UK research. Key categories include the carers' social background, tenure in fostering, children fostered, their training, their perception of the fostering role within the local authority, their views on support from social services and their experience of stress. A concluding section identifies those areas where capacity-building in carers is most pressing.
Original Fathers: An Exploration into the Experiences of Birth Fathers Involved in Adoption in the Mid-20th Century
Authors: Witney Celia
Published: March 2013

There is a surprising lack of research into the experiences of unmarried fathers whose children were lost to adoption in Britain in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Between the first Adoption Act in 1926 and the present day, nearly 90,000 adoptions have taken place. Very little is known about the fathers involved. The information gained from this study, reported by Celia Witney, is set in the context of the social conditions of the mid-20th century and refers to the legislation that affected the rights of the original father at that time. As it is now possible for social services personnel to contact adoptees on behalf of their birth parents, the findings presented are particularly relevant. They reveal the experiences and reflect the emotions of some original fathers concerning the discovery of their partner's pregnancy, the process of the child's adoption, the search for their adult adopted children and in some cases their contact or reunion with them. The study consists of self-selected contributors and as such is not representative of all unmarried fathers. The cultural attitudes that contributed to the treatment of the unmarried parents, with particular reference to unmarried fathers, are discussed and it is argued that it was the idea that child care was ‘women's business’ that contributed to the exclusion of the fathers from the adoption arrangements.
Parent Mentoring: An Innovative Approach to Adoption Support
Authors: Archer Caroline , Gordon Christine
Published: March 2013

Adopters are taking increasingly traumatised children into their families. These children bring with them disorganised attachment patterns that helped them survive early familial maltreatment. Since they were highly adaptive in their formative family environment, children cling to these relational patterns ‘as if their lives depended on it’. As part of the Family Futures therapeutic team, Caroline Archer and Christine Gordon have established effective frameworks for collaborative working, based on trauma and developmental-attachment theories, and have developed the practitioner role of parent mentor. Taking behaviour as the child's ‘first language’, mentors help adopters to understand and translate youngsters' behavioural and thinking patterns in terms of their traumatic histories. Parents are then encouraged to increase their children's physical, psychological and social sensitivity by using developmentally appropriate re-parenting strategies, acknowledging the psychosocial ‘gaps’ in children's attachment histories that inhibit healthy neuro-developmental organisation. Gradually the neurobiology and ‘language of trauma’ can be over-written by the neurobiology and ‘language of love’.
The Developmental Histories of Children Who Experience High Levels of Placement Instability in the Care System
Authors: McCarthy Gerard
Published: March 2013

Gerard McCarthy reports on a study that investigated the developmental histories of children who experienced high levels of placement instability in the care system. A social services information system was used to identify a group of children (n = 11) who had experienced over ten placement moves in a three-year period, excluding short-term respite moves. A comparison group of children (n = 10) was also identified who had experienced low levels of placement moves in the care system. The social services and community child health records of the children were assessed using a checklist for a range of problematic behaviours. Results indicated that those who experienced many moves were much more likely to have displayed multiple problem behaviours prior to entering care than children in the comparison group. Whereas the mean number of problem behaviours prior to being placed in care for the control group was approximately one, the mean number for the group who experienced many placement moves was nearly five. The service and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Promoting the Human Rights of Children and Young People: The ‘Investing in Children’ Experience
Authors: Cairns Liam , Brannen Maria
Published: March 2013

As long as children and young people remain politically voiceless and powerless, there will be little change to their status in society. Liam Cairns and Maria Brannen reflect upon their experiences of attempting to promote an alternative discourse within which children and young people are seen as active citizens, who are knowledgeable about their world and able to play a full part in decision-making processes that affect them. They draw upon case studies from a project called ‘Investing in Children’ to illustrate promising developments as well as some of the obstacles in their path.
A Hidden Population: Understanding the Needs of Sexually Abused and Abusing Children in Substitute Care
Authors: Pollock Sue , Farmer Elaine
Published: March 2013

Despite high levels of concern among professionals about how best to manage sexually abused children looked after in public care, there has been little research on this subject. Sue Pollock and Elaine Farmer report the findings from a study of a sample of such children which shows that, as a group, they share characteristics that make them significantly more vulnerable to sexual risks and to emotional, educational and behavioural difficulties than their non-sexually abused counterparts in residential and foster care. However, at the point of placement there are rarely markers to alert carers to the multiple deprivations and adversities in their backgrounds and it is therefore likely that this group of children will be denied the specific targeted therapeutic, educational and family support that they need. This study highlights the importance of good record-keeping, thorough assessments of need at the point of placement, effective communication between social workers and caregivers and joint planning between social services, health and education to implement comprehensive packages of care.
‘Family is Family … It Does Affect Everybody in the Family‘: Black Birth Relatives and Adoption Support
Authors: Harris Perlita
Published: March 2013

The voices of black birth relatives are rarely, if ever, heard in discussions on adoption support services. Drawing on findings from a larger study of service users' views and experiences of such services, Perlita Harris focuses on a small group of black birth relatives' experiences of post-adoption support, highlights some of their specific support needs, as identified by themselves, and makes concrete suggestions for ensuring that services are appropriate, accessible and welcoming to them. The article demonstrates the importance of developing non-Eurocentric, non-stigmatising, culturally appropriate and anti-oppressive services that are tailored to meeting the specific needs of this group.
Developing the Incredible Years Webster-Stratton Parenting Skills Training Programme for Use with Adoptive Families
Authors: Henderson Kay , Sargent Norma
Published: March 2013

Kay Henderson and Norma Sargent report on the development of an adoption-specific parenting skills programme which took as its starting point the widely used Incredible Years package by Carolyn Webster-Stratton. Four courses of the BASIC Incredible Years programme were run at Coram Family for adoptive parents. During these sessions notes were taken of adoption-related material which arose in discussion and during individual interviews with participants. Additional material for trainers and parents was developed by staff from Coram Adoption Service and the Anna Freud Centre. The courses were also evaluated and parents reported feeling significantly less stressed and more competent after the training, found their children more pleasurable and reported significant reduction in the children's levels of hyper-activity, conduct disorder and behavioural difficulties. The value of combining proven behavioural management strategies with consideration of the specific challenges facing adoptive parents is highlighted.
Counting the Losses: People Who Do Not Pursue Their Adoption Enquiry
Authors: Wallis Lorraine
Published: March 2013

It has been estimated that only one in ten people making an adoption enquiry go on to adopt. Lorraine Wallis undertook a study to explore these potential losses. She presents the results of a survey completed by 245 people who had made an enquiry with one of 17 adoption agencies in England. This random sample of enquirers was designed to explore the links between the characteristics of enquirers, their decision-making about adoption and their experience of making an enquiry. The findings indicate a less pessimistic view of the outcome of people's adoption enquiry, with 46 per cent beginning the adoption process. However, it indicates the difficulties enquirers have in asking questions and finding answers to concerns about their eligibility. It shows the links between enquirers' social and economic background and the decision-making process they undertake. The study highlights the vulnerability of some enquirers to poor agency responses and the impact that enquirers' support networks and knowledge of organisations has on the outcome of their enquiry. These are issues adoption agencies need to address if they are to maximise the potential of those coming forward to enquire about adoption.
More Than Just a Letter: Service User Perspectives on One Local Authority's Adoption postbox service
Authors: Selwyn Julie , Frazer Lesley , Wrighton Peter
Published: March 2013

Postbox contact, in which an adoption agency mediates the exchange of letters between adoptive and birth families, now appears to be the most common contact plan for adopted children. Despite their prevalence, postbox services have received little attention from researchers and is not the subject of any national policy or practice guidance. This article by Julie Selwyn, Lesley Frazer and Peter Wrighton draws on a recent evaluation of one local authority's postbox service and in particular the perspectives of adopters, birth mothers and extended birth family members using it. The evaluation found that adopters and extended family members were often very committed to sustaining the service for the benefit of children. However, birth fathers were rarely involved and birth mothers had great difficulty in writing, although they valued receiving news of their children. There was considerable scope for disappointment when parties embarked on postbox with different expectations and could not directly communicate their motives and wishes. Overall, the paper concludes that postbox users require more support if this form of contact is to be sustained. It also calls for researchers, practitioners and policy makers to devote further attention to postbox and in particular its longer-term impact on children.
Disabled Foster Children and Contacts with Their Birth Families
Authors: Baker Claire
Published: March 2013

Researchers from the University of York have been working with seven local authorities in England on a major programme of foster care research (Sinclair et al, 2004, 2005a, 2005b). Part of this work included a three-year longitudinal study of 596 foster children. Claire Baker used data from this study to look specifically at the experiences of disabled foster children and here discusses findings in relation to their contact with birth families. Earlier studies of disabled children who are looked after suggest that their need for family contact is at least as great as that of others, but that a combination of practical difficulties and professional attitudes may lead to a lower level of contact. This article shows that disabled foster children do, on average, have lower levels of contact than their non-disabled peers. It then uses qualitative data to consider possible reasons for this along with the implications for good practice.
Core Principles and Therapeutic Objectives for Therapy with Adoptive and Permanent Foster Families
Authors: Hart Angie , Luckock Barry
Published: March 2013

Angie Hart and Barry Luckock provide an organising framework for integrated practice decision-making in specialist therapy with adoptive and permanent foster families. The framework is located in current available insights from theory and evidence from empirical research, personal therapeutic practice and family life. The authors formulate an initial case example and use it to illustrate their approach throughout as it demonstrates the distinctiveness of adoptive and permanent foster family life. The paper then outlines a set of core principles and objectives in relation to which therapy for these families should be planned.
Foster Carer Training: Resources, Payment and Support
Authors: Ogilvie Kate , Kirton Derek , Beecham Jennifer
Published: March 2013

This article by Kate Ogilvie, Derek Kirton and Jennifer Beecham examines key aspects of training for foster carers, using quantitative and qualitative data from a study of remuneration and performance in foster care. Three main issues are discussed: the training undertaken by foster carers and whether it is thought adequate; foster carer and supervising social worker views on NVQ level 3 training and payment for skills schemes; and how foster carers can be encouraged to attend training regularly. The study found fairly high levels of participation in training among foster carers who generally expressed satisfaction with its quality. However, very few agencies had clear training strategies. NVQ training was broadly welcomed but concern was expressed regarding its suitability for all foster carers and its relationship to high-quality foster care. There was scope for improving attendance through attention to organisational issues such as venues, timing of courses and availability of child care. Finally, the relevance of training to debates on professionalisation and the place of foster carers within the children's workforce are considered.
Covenants of Wholeness: Adoption and Land Tenure in Georgian England and the Hawaiian Kingdom
Authors: Giffin Michael
Published: March 2013

Michael Giffin suggests that throughout history adoption has reflected the social covenant of the society it existed to serve. For example, adoption served semi-feudal agrarian society in different ways from adoption in modern industrialised society. Adoption was once an agreement among extended families and allies, which did not mandate divorce from birth families and sought to advantage birth and adoptive families alike. While it often led to unexpected outcomes, if successful, adoption became a principal means of accruing the social and economic benefits on which sovereignty and commonwealth once depended. Through those benefits, adoption became a way of promoting wholeness, soteria in biblical Greek, a word from which the term salvation has evolved.

After describing the ideas of covenant and wholeness, and the practices of land tenure and adoption, this article compares case studies of adoption in the Austen and Kamehameha families during a period in which Britain and Hawaii made their extraordinarily rapid transitions from semi-feudalism to constitutional monarchy. One conclusion drawn is that societies once thought conservative and exclusive are actually adaptive and inclusive. Another is that the imperative of wholeness, like the idea of salvation, is a chameleon: it changes its colour to fit in with its surroundings.
Can the Corporate State Parent?
Authors: Bullock Roger , Courtney Mark E , Parker Roy , Sinclair Ian , Thoburn June
Published: March 2013

Discussions about provision for children in the care of the state have continually raised the question, can the corporate state parent? Roger Bullock, Mark E Courtney, Roy Parker, Ian Sinclair and June Thoburn consider the question in the light of recent studies of separated children. It is argued that while the state does not need to fulfil all parenting responsibilities when care is shared with families or children are adopted, for three groups of children parenting issues are especially salient. They are: children in kinship care, in long-term foster family care and young people who are seriously troubled and troublesome. Research that would produce relevant information and recommendations to improve the state's parenting is suggested.
Dispelling Misconceptions about Looked after Children
Authors: Hare A D , Bullock Roger
Published: March 2013

Portrayals of looked after children often rely on misconceptions about their needs, experiences and development. While their disadvantaged status should not be ignored, poor outcomes are often emphasised at the expense of good ones and pejorative stereotypes can prevail. In light of two recent publications, Care Matters (DfES, 2006) and Handle with Care (Sergeant, 2006), A D Hare and Roger Bullock seek to dispel some of these misconceptions and provide a more accurate picture of looked after children. While such attempts to promote the welfare of looked after children and young people are welcome, questions are raised about whether theirs is the best approach.
Education and Self-Reliance among Care Leavers
Authors: Cameron Claire
Published: March 2013

Claire Cameron reports results from a study on the use of services by a group of young people who have left local authority care, where the proportion holding educational qualifications is above the average for care leavers. Using the concept of self-reliance, she explores how care leavers managed and directed their educational participation and achievement against a background of a lack of financial, familial and inter-personal support. The article suggests that care leavers, who have often developed self-reliance skills in highly disadvantaged circumstances, can be misperceived by professionals as being ‘difficult’.
Spare time Activities for Young People in Care: What Can They Contribute to Educational Progress?
Authors: Gilligan Robbie
Published: March 2013

Earlier articles by Robbie Gilligan have argued the case for the value of participation in spare time activities for young people in care, in terms of its potential to enhance their resilience (Gilligan, 1999, 2000). Here he focuses specifically on how such participation in spare time activities may contribute to positive educational progress for the young person in care. First, evidence is examined as to what, if any, impact such participation may have for the educational achievement of young people in general. Attention then narrows to the possible educational impact for more vulnerable young people, and for young people in care. Two issues are considered: (1) why and how participation may support educational progress for young people in care; and (2) what it may be useful for adults to do in terms of supporting and eliciting any positive educational effects of participation in activities.
Intercountry Adoption on the Internet
Authors: Chou Shihning
Published: March 2013

This study by Shihning Chou, Kevin Browne and Melanie Kirkaldy investigated whether inter-country adoption agencies on the internet upheld the principles of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC 1989) and the Hague Convention (1993). A systematic search on the UK-based Google search engine was carried out. The search yielded 2,383 hits, of which 116 were adoption agencies. All 116 agencies were registered in the USA and 37 per cent of the agency websites clearly stated that potential adoptive parents are allowed to select a child they wish to adopt, with 34 per cent offering the option to apply online. The average total fee for intercountry adoption per child was US$20,338 with an average application fee of US$273.97. The majority of websites displayed photographs of children: 9.5 per cent showed photos of named children who had been adopted, 25 per cent displayed photos of named children currently available for adoption and 50 per cent of websites displayed general photographs of children with no identifiers. Furthermore, 18.1 per cent of agencies used terminology that promoted children as a commodity rather than as individuals in need. There was a positive correlation between agencies using such terminology and those displaying photographs with personal information. If these views are accepted, it means that it can be estimated that at least 38 per cent of the agencies were in breach of the UNCRC and the Hague Convention.
Still the Poor Relations?: Perspectives on Valuing and Listening to Foster Carers
Authors: Kirton Derek , Beecham Jennifer , Ogilvie Kate
Published: March 2013

There has long been debate regarding the treatment and status of foster carers, but this has gained added significance in the context of moves towards professionalisation and recognition of carers as part of the children's workforce. While research studies have often touched upon the extent to which foster carers feel valued, appreciated or members of a team, less attention has been given to the perspectives of social workers and managers. Drawing on quantitative survey data and qualitative material from focus groups and interviews, Derek Kirton, Jennifer Beecham and Kate Ogilvie explore from the different perspectives of supervising social workers, service managers and foster carers, the extent to which the latter are valued, listened to or regarded as ‘colleagues' by social work professionals and agencies. Key findings include that carers’ sense of being valued may be linked to factors such as age, experience, health and number of placements provided. Discussion of the status of foster carers revealed not only wide variation in practice but also a complex set of sentiments and significant divisions among social work professionals on the question of whether carers should be regarded as ‘colleagues’.
The Need for Information on How the Attachment Difficulties of Adopted and Looked after Children Affect their Schooling
Authors: Phillips Rena
Published: March 2013

The loss, separation and trauma experienced by looked after and adopted children can seriously affect their school life and ability to learn. A great deal has been written and researched on the low educational achievement of looked after children, but there is much less available on how adopted children fare. An attachment perspective can make a valuable contribution to understanding the learning needs of vulnerable children. Rena Phillips discusses a successful initiative by PACS, a small post-adoption support charity, in producing succinct and accessible publications to inform teachers, as well as families and professionals, about the types of difficult and challenging behaviour that can arise from attachment issues and why. The materials include practical suggestions about how schools can help to create a more understanding learning environment. Other developments that reflect the growing interest in attachment issues and education are described.
The Hope Connection: A Therapeutic Summer Day Camp for Adopted and At-Risk Children with Special Socio-Emotional Needs
Authors: Purvis Karyn B , Cross David R , Federici Ron , Johnson Dana , McKenzie L Brooks
Published: March 2013

Large numbers of North American and Western European families are adopting children with serious socio-emotional needs. Other children experience similar deficits as a result of neglect and abuse by carers. Often these children are diagnosed with psychopathology and receive drug treatments that can be ineffective and even detrimental. Karyn B Purvis, David R Cross, Ron Federici, Dana Johnson and L Brooks McKenzie report on The Hope Connection, a project designed to meet the needs of these at-risk children and their families. The core of this project is a theoretically integrated summer day camp offering activities that are attachment rich, sensory stimulating and behaviourally structured. Pre-test and post-test data indicate that summer camp had a significant impact on the children's behaviour (n = 19), as indicated by parent-report measures of child behaviour problems and attachment. These findings are discussed with regard to possible future directions of programme implementation and evaluation.
Promoting Foster Carer Strengths: Suggestions for Strengths-Based Practice
Authors: Odell Tim
Published: March 2013

Sixty-eight per cent of looked after children in the UK are in foster care. Children in foster care benefit from continuity. Sometimes, due to worker turnover and workloads, that continuity comes not from a social worker but from a foster carer. Thus, children in foster care can develop significant attachments to their carers, who are likely to have a valuable role to play in long-term planning for a child. A strengths approach to fostering social work places value on the input of carers as experts on a child, but the social work research literature reveals limited information about the use of such an approach in supervising foster carers. This article by Tim Odell builds on recent writing and suggests that the strengths perspective could be of value in working with foster carers, just as it has been in other settings. A case study examines the process of moving on for one child and how social workers and carers worked together to take a creative approach for a child with a history of multiple placements. This case study illustrates elements of a strengths-based approach. Suggestions for further application of such a model with foster carers are made, and areas for further practice research identified.
Untold Stories: A Discussion of Life Story Work
Authors: Baynes Polly
Published: March 2013

This article by Polly Baynes focuses on life story work with looked after children and is based on her 20 years' experience as a practitioner, independent life story work trainer and mentor, independent reviewing officer and children's guardian. The article traces the history of life story work and considers how changes within social work have affected practice, and are played out within the narratives that we create for children who cannot live with their birth families. The re-emergence of life story work within the current ‘target-led, evidence-based’ culture of social work is discussed and the impact of attitudes to gender, poverty and professional accountability is considered. Finally, there is a discussion of respectful practice with children and the issue of social work power, as manifested in the writing of children's stories.
A Childhood on Paper: Managing Access to Child Care Files by Post-Care Adults
Authors: Goddard Jim , Feast Julia , Kirton Derek
Published: March 2013

Although the potential importance of care-file information for those formerly in care has long been recognised, little is known about requests for access to such records, whether in terms of scale or how requests are dealt with. The survey reported here by Jim Goddard, Julia Feast and Derek Kirton was carried out to address this gap. It was conducted in two stages during 2004 and 2005. The first stage comprised a postal questionnaire to local authorities in the UK (with 81 responses received) and a small number of voluntary organisations. This was followed by 40 telephone interviews with key local authority and voluntary sector personnel dealing with access to records requests. Areas of interest within the study included: policy and practice in relation to the retention, storage and retrieval of files; the handling of requests, including by whom; the provision of services (eg counselling and intermediary help); and the impact of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the handling of access requests. Two related themes emerged. First, policy, practice and service provision vary enormously between agencies, creating a ‘post-code lottery’ for post-care adults. Second, such provision is often poor in comparison with that offered to adopted adults, thereby raising the question of whether the current legal and policy framework for access to care records is adequate.
The Role of the Educational Psychologist in Multidisciplinary Work Relating to Fostering and Adoption
Authors: Osborne Cara , Norgate Roger , Traill Maria
Published: March 2013

Fostered and adopted children form a vulnerable group with a diverse range of educational, social and mental health needs, and are likely to benefit from input from a range of professions, one of these being educational psychology. Cara Osborne, Roger Norgate and Maria Traill report on the results of a questionnaire sent to all educational psychology services in England, with a view to clarifying the nature and level of educational psychologist input into this area of work. Sixty-nine per cent of services were involved to some extent in such work, with a skew in favour of work with fostered rather than adopted children. A wide range of work was carried out, and was considered to have led to improved communication between agencies, enhanced working arrangements and a greater understanding of factors relating to fostering and adoption. Despite this, the level of current service involvement was generally lower than desired, and in response to this, some services highlighted the need for further research into the value of educational psychologist input into this area of work.
Birth Family Health History: Adopters' Perspectives on Learning about their Child's Health Inheritance
Authors: Hill Catherine M , Edwards Maria
Published: March 2013

Birth family health history is shared with prospective adopters to help them understand a child's future health risks. But guidelines for health professionals indicate that such third-party information should not be shared without the consent of birth parents. In practice this can be difficult to achieve. Catherine Hill and Maria Edwards' survey of 57 adoptions sought to explore the views and experiences of adopters about the value of this information to both themselves and their child. Absence of information, particularly with respect to paternal history, was common and resulted in adverse consequences for children and an impoverished sense of identity. Adopters felt that lack of information also limited their understanding of the child and therefore their ability to offer therapeutic parenting; they were ‘parenting in the dark’. A majority expressed strong views that it was their child's right to have this information; a minority felt that confidentiality of birth family health information should remain a paramount consideration. These data furnish the debate with an important missing dimension from those whose lives are potentially enriched or impaired by the quality of information shared.
Making Kinship Care Work
Authors: Farmer Elaine
Published: March 2013

Policy and practice developments need to be based on firm evidence about how well kinship care (that is, placements with relatives or friends) works and the services required to maintain these placements. The research reported by Elaine Farmer was based on case file reviews of 270 children, half in kin placements and half in non-kin foster care, and on interviews with a subsample of 32 kin carers, social workers, children and parents. The study found that while the children were remarkably similar in the two kinds of placement, kin carers, in contrast, were significantly more disadvantaged than stranger foster carers. They also faced more hostility from birth parents during contact. The children's outcomes in terms of placement quality and disruption in the two settings were also very similar. However, because kin carers persisted with very challenging children and yet received fewer services than stranger foster carers, they were more often under strain. This article compares the characteristics of carers and children in the two kinds of placement and examines the impact of the children on the kin carers and the strains they experienced. It also considers the services received and needed by kin carers and children. The implications for policy and practice are examined.
Placement Stability for Children in Kinship Care: A Long-Term Follow-Up of Children Placed in Kinship Care through Care Proceedings
Authors: Lutman Eleanor , Hunt Joan , Waterhouse Suzette
Published: March 2013

One of the key arguments put forward for the benefits of kinship placements is that they are likely to provide permanency for children. However, little is known about the factors which promote placement stability or the reasons for placement disruption. Eleanor Lutman, Joan Hunt and Suzette Waterhouse examine placement stability and disruption for a cohort of children placed in kinship care through care proceedings (Hunt et al, 2008). When compared with disruption rates for other forms of care, it appears that for younger children kinship care can be a positive option but the figures are less positive for older children. However, after disruption over half of the kinship-placed children remained within their family networks and many kinship carers retained a positive relationship with the child. The findings indicate placements of older children, placements with aunts/uncles and placements where the carer and child are less familiar with each other are more likely to disrupt and thus may need more support.
Kinship Foster Care: Protection or Risk?
Authors: Palacios Jesús , Jiménez Jesús M
Published: March 2013

The data reported in this article by Jesús Palacios and Jesús M Jiménez come from a study of foster care in Andalusia, southern Spain. In Andalusia, as in the rest of Spain, kinship care is far more frequent than non-relative foster care. The authors explore the differences between these two types of foster care arrangement in a number of areas: socio-demographic profiles; children's stimulation and patterns of rearing; stress, informal support and needs; formal support and relationships with child protection services; evaluation of the experiences of carers; contact between birth parents and children; and foster children's development and behavioural difficulties. Although, compared with non-relative care, there are some clear advantages to kinship foster care (eg placement at an early age and fewer transitions), there are also a number of risk factors in all areas studied that must be considered to avoid what should be a protective placement becoming a risk situation for both carers and children.
Concurrent Planning: A Retrospective Study of the Continuities and Discontinuities of Care, and Their Impact on the Development of Infants and Young Children Placed for Adoption by the Coram Concurrent Planning Project
Authors: Kenrick Jenny
Published: March 2013

This study by Jenny Kenrick looks at the impact on children of the intensive contact with birth parents that is an integral part of concurrent planning (CP) placements. While there is an assumption of the benefits of continuity and of a reduction in numbers of placements for infants, there can also be discontinuities caused by the frequency of contact sessions and separations from carers. CP carers of 27 children who were later adopted and of one who was rehabilitated to birth parents reflected retrospectively on the experience of contact for the infants. For these children, concurrent planning achieved early placements — the majority by five months of age — that led to permanency. Any discontinuities at the time seemed to be compensated for in the long term by the attachments to their CP carers. Some recommendations to reduce the effects of the discontinuities are considered in relation to particular stages in the emotional development of the infants.
Memories about the Intercountry Adoption of Finnish Children: Decisions about the Child's Best Interests
Authors: Pösö Tarja
Published: March 2013

Tarja Pösö uses memory work with professionals to examine the intercountry adoption of Finnish children that took place from the 1950s to the 1970s. Since then, however, Finland has been a receiving country for children adopted from abroad and even the domestic adoption of those born in Finland is rare. The aim of the study is to shed light on the time, space and culture-bound character of child protection and intercountry adoption. The data consist of group conversations with the social workers, now retired, who arranged the intercountry adoptions. The importance of the data is emphasised by the fact that no research or statistics exist on these adoptions; indeed, there is little knowledge that they ever took place. The Finnish example shows that the need and opportunities for intercountry adoptions may vary even within a relatively short period of time. The current global pattern of intercountry adoptions cannot be considered permanent.
Sex, Sexuality and Relationships: Developing Confidence and Discernment When Assessing Lesbian and Gay Prospective Adopters
Authors: Cocker Christine , Brown Helen Cosis
Published: March 2013

In the UK, the last 15 years have seen a profound change in the way that lesbians and gay men have been socially and politically located and acknowledged. This is evidenced by recent legislative changes that have given protection to lesbians and gay men and placed a duty on public bodies to provide equitable services. For a number of years lesbians and gay men have been specifically targeted, recruited and utilised as adopters of children in public care. With these changes has come the realisation that a number of complexities in adoption practice have been insufficiently addressed.

Brown and Cocker (2008) have argued that in the assessment of prospective lesbian and gay adopters, struggling with complexities is crucial for safe and effective assessment of suitability to be realised. This appreciation of the complexity of practice has been articulated in the Independent Inquiry into the Circumstances of Child Sexual Abuse by Two Foster Carers in Wakefield (Parrott et al, 2007). The report noted that the ‘homosexuality’ of the foster carers became the primary focus of social work anxiety. This happened at the expense of holistic considerations of both the carers' potential and their actual foster care practice. Although these findings relate to foster care, they are transferable to the adoption field. The authors of the Inquiry emphasised the importance of ‘discrimination’ in practice, arguing that ‘discrimination’ was essential for discerning and analytical assessment, support and supervision. This article by Christine Cocker and Helen Cosis Brown offers a conceptual framework as well as practice tools to facilitate such discriminatory, effective, discerning and comprehensive assessments of lesbian and gay prospective adopters. The paramountcy of the child's welfare has to remain central to developments in adoption practice. This article maintains this centrality.
Social Work Practice Strategies and Professional Identity within Private Fostering: A Critical Exploration
Authors: Ross Johanna Woodcock , Crow Charlotte
Published: March 2013

Johanna Woodcock Ross and Charlotte Crow explore the professional identity and practice strategies of the new role of private fostering social worker. A case study approach is used to reflect on the practice required to support private fostering. The perceived role of the private fostering social worker and the practice strategies adopted are affected by confusion and stereotypes about what constitutes private fostering and which children can be considered as privately fostered. Significantly, in addition to professional practice, private fostering social work has to cope with critical attitudes and negative cultural stereotypes among professional colleagues, many of which are reinforced by social and political arguments, media and organisational scrutiny, and resulting low staff morale. The core practice strategies of the private fostering social worker involve working against oppressive labelling, communication and engagement with ‘sofasurfing’ teenagers and developing skills for working with conflict. While it is relatively easy to understand the confusion, conflict and cultural stereotyping as representing defence mechanisms to ‘taking in’ the pain and complexity of the situations of these young people and their carers, the impact upon the professional identity of the social workers involved exacerbates feelings of being maligned, isolated and undervalued.
Concurrent Planning (2): ‘The Rollercoaster of Uncertainty’
Authors: Kenrick Jenny
Published: March 2013

This article by Jenny Kenrick focuses on the impact of intensive contact with birth parents for the carers of infants placed by concurrent planning. It follows an earlier article focusing on the infants placed (Kenrick, 2009). Among the themes to emerge are the uncertainties intrinsic to the process and how far these affected the development of carers' attachments to the infants they were looking after. The importance of the carers' direct knowledge of the ‘real’ birth parents for helping the children to develop an understanding of their identity is also noted. Finally, an interview with a birth parent whose child returned to her is reported.
Looked after and Adopted Children: How Should Specialist CAMHS Be Involved?
Authors: Rao Pradeep , Ali Alvina , Vostanis Panos
Published: March 2013

Looked after children are at high risk of developing mental health problems and these are often complex and related to other needs and agency involvement. Consequently, there is increasing policy emphasis on the importance of joint service planning and implementation. In practice, however, the distinction between mental health needs, problems and disorders is not clearly defined. Therefore, there is considerable service variation, lack of models and consensus on which children and young people would benefit from specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) input. Pradeep Rao, Alvina Ali and Panos Vostanis report on a study that aimed to compare the characteristics of looked after and adopted children referred to a designated CAMHS team, and to identify whether these fell within the perceived remit of specialist CAMHS. The referrals, over one year, were rated by an independent researcher using a checklist that contained details of the referrer, the child's placement and reason for referral, outcome and reasons for decisions. Children with indication of likely disorders were accepted, while there was less consistency on decisions related to attachment and behavioural problems, and the role of different agencies. Mental health and social care services for vulnerable children need jointly to develop clear care pathways, with definition of agency roles. The presence of behavioural and attachment problems per se should not justify referral to specialist CAMHS, which would depend on other concurrent mental health difficulties and risk factors involved. Implications for defining the role and components of mental health services for vulnerable children and young people are discussed.
Telling Different Stories: The Experience of Foster/Adoptive Carers in Carrying Out Collaborative Memory Work with Children
Authors: Shotton Gillian
Published: March 2013

An understanding of our history and the events that shaped, and continue to shape, our lives, is important to us all. The background literature outlines the positive impact that life story work can have for children in care, although there is little published research to support these claims. Gillian Shotton explores the experience of foster/adoptive carers in carrying out collaborative memory work with children using the ‘memory store approach’. Two to three months after a one-day training course for carers, five semi-structured interviews were carried out with four foster carers and one adoptive carer. Three main themes emerged: impact, motivation and practical aspects. The carers felt the approach had helped them to build a more secure relationship with the child, had an impact on mood, helped to open up conversations and provided opportunities to develop the child's thinking and learning. The children were motivated by the approach and took an active part, suggesting memories to be recorded. The carers valued the opportunity and often recalled experiencing a similar approach when they or their own children were young. The findings indicate the value of memory store, with implications for more carers to be trained in using it and for wider dissemination of the findings. Further research is warranted, particularly to explore the child's experience of the approach.