bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Issues concerning the Health of Looked after Children
Authors: Ward Harriet , Jones Helen , Lynch Margaret , Skuse Tricia
Published: March 2013

There is substantial evidence that looked after children have extensive health needs and disabilities, that they have often missed out on routine health surveillance and health promotion before entry to care or accommodation, but that at present they receive little compensatory care. Harriet Ward, Helen Jones, Margaret Lynch and Tricia Skuse discuss these issues. They look at how frequent changes of placement and poor inter-agency communication exacerbate difficulties in gaining access to adequate health care, especially when children lack an advocate who takes proactive action on their behalf. The Department of Health has responded by issuing new Guidance that sets clear standards for service delivery, encourages children's participation, and ensures that health assessments recognise inequalities and take a holistic view of healthcare needs. The implementation of the Integrated Children's System should improve the quality and accuracy of health information concerning all children in need. New Regulations and Standards for foster care, a National Healthy Care Standard and, on a broader policy front, the National Service Framework for Children should all ensure better access to health care for this population. However, as the authors conclude, such measures will only be successful if inter-agency working can be improved through multi-disciplinary training and better co-ordinated structures for service delivery.
Health Information and Teenagers in Residential Care: A qualitative Study to Identify Young People's Views
Authors: Bundle Annabelle
Published: March 2013

Annabelle Bundle presents the results of a qualitative study, undertaken in a mixed residential children's home, which aimed to identify what looked after young people see as important in terms of health information. The young people wanted information particularly on mental health issues, keeping fit, substance use and sexual health. Many were reluctant to request appointments for personal matters and did not feel they were encouraged to ask about personal health concerns during medical examinations.
The Interface between Medicine and Social Work in Working with Looked after Children
Authors: Batty Daphne
Published: March 2013

On the basis of her long career in social work with children and their families, Daphne Batty reviews the interface between doctors and social workers, its nature, how it has developed and attitudes to it displayed by both professions.
The Emerging Role of the Specialist Nurse: Promoting the Health of Looked after Children
Authors: Hill Catherine , Wright Vanessa , Sampeys Carolyn , Dunnett Kathy , Daniel Sue , O'Dell Lesley , Watkins Janet
Published: March 2013

In the light of recent guidelines from the Department of Health, Catherine Hill, in collaboration with Vanessa Wright, Carolyn Sampeys, Kathy Dunnett, Sue Daniel, Lesley O'Dell and Janet Watkins, discusses the growing contribution that specialist nurses are making in promoting the health of looked after children. To illustrate this trend two projects, in Southampton and Cardiff, are examined, followed by a review of the current professional status of looked after children's nurses in England and Wales. All the evidence presented points to better outcomes and additional quality through nurse-led assessments.
‘Whose Baby is it Anyway?’: Developing a Joined-Up Service Involving Child and Adult Teams Working in a Mental Health Trust
Authors: Britten Clive , Cardwell Amynta
Published: March 2013

Clive Britten and Amynta Cardwell describe how clinicians from a London-based child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS), in partnership with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), developed a joined-up service with colleagues in the local adult mental health teams at St Charles Hospital. The aim was to raise awareness of the potential risk factors posed to children being cared for by an adult with a mental health problem and to provide a designated clinical service for this particular client group. In discussing how the service developed, the authors highlight key learning points and identify the sources they have drawn on. These include direct clinical work, the findings of other colleagues working in the mental health field and methodological approaches designed by practitioners specialising in cross-boundary working.
Parenting Skills for Adoptive Parents
Authors: Gilkes Liz , Klimes Ivana
Published: March 2013

At the suggestion of service users, Oxfordshire Social Services recently commissioned an experimental ‘parenting course’ for their newly approved adopters. Facilitators Liz Gilkes and Ivana Klimes discuss this project, which was run for Oxfordshire Adopters by the Family Nurturing Network, an organisation now well established in Oxfordshire. The course offered a programme for parents to learn how to best support their children's development and learning, how to manage difficult behaviour and foster self-esteem, and how to care for their own needs. It was evaluated by means of a questionnaire completed by all participants. The results were so overwhelmingly positive that Oxfordshire Social Services now plan to offer these courses as a rolling programme to all their new adopters.
Communicating with Disabled Children
Authors: Stalker Kirsten , Connors Clare
Published: March 2013

Kirsten Stalker and Clare Connors discuss the methods used in a study seeking disabled children's accounts of their everyday lives. The research is set in the context of policy and practice initiatives promoting communication with disabled children and other recent research, which suggests that not all practitioners and policy makers are meeting their responsibilities in this area. In this study of 26 disabled children's lives, different interview schedules were used with younger and older children, along with a number of visual aids and activities. The design and effectiveness of these is discussed in detail. Various methods were used to obtain the views of children with communication impairments. The authors conclude that communicating with most disabled children is little different from communicating with any child. Some basic skills are not hard to learn, and attitudes are all important. The methods described here could well be adapted and expanded for use in the field of adoption and fostering.
Committed to Caring: Family-Based Short-Break Carers' Views of Their Role
Authors: Tarleton Beth
Published: March 2013

Short-break carers are short-term foster carers who provide regular care, often one weekend a month, for disabled children. Beth Tarleton reports on a study of 53 short-break carers offering short breaks for children with high support needs. The research found that short-break carers provided short breaks because they enjoyed it and developed real relationships with the children, but that the way in which they were recruited, assessed, trained, paid and supported was often influenced by a lack of staff time and resources, and a lack of clarity regarding their role.
Training Foster Carers in a Preventive Approach to Children Who Challenge: Mixed Messages from Research
Authors: Hill-Tout Jan , Pithouse Andrew , Lowe Kathy
Published: March 2013

Jan Hill-Tout, Andrew Pithouse and Kathy Lowe set out key features of a two-year semi-experimental investigation, completed in April 2001, into the impact of training foster carers in techniques to manage challenging behaviour. The results suggested that training, as designed and delivered in this study, had limited impact on child conduct and carer capacity. However, the training was perceived very positively by foster carers who claimed they put into practice what they had learned and that the training had been useful.
Contact in Adoption: The Experience of Adoptive Families in the USA
Authors: Wrobel Gretchen Miller , Grotevant Harold D , Berge Jerica , Mendenhall Tai , McRoy Ruth
Published: March 2013

Contact in adoption is a complex issue that adoption professionals frequently negotiate. Today most adoption placements include an initial plan for contact that in many instances changes over time. By understanding contact as an issue that presents itself over the course of an adopted person's lifetime, the complexities it brings to the adoption experience can be seen. Gretchen Miller Wrobel, Harold D Grotevant, Jerica Berge, Tai Mendenhall and Ruth McRoy discuss contact from a US perspective using findings from the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Project, a longitudinal study of openness in adoption. They examine how curiosity, satisfaction with adoptive contact, family communication and searching influence decision-making about the extent of contact. Implications for adoption professionals in the USA and the UK are also presented.
Improving Outcomes for Children in Care: Giving Youth a Voice
Authors: Kufeldt Kathleen , Simard Marie , Vachon Jacques
Published: March 2013

The Looking After Children (LAC) protocols that were developed during the 1990s in the UK represented a ground-breaking move to make services more child centred, with an emphasis on the needs of the child being paramount. Kathleen Kufeldt, Marie Simard and Jacques Vachon discuss how similar measures were initiated across the Atlantic in the form of a three-year Looking After Children in Canada project. This involved collaborative partnership between service providers, researchers and a major funding agency. The authors discuss how it set about achieving reform, and assess its impact on improving the quality of life for children in foster care. Findings in many ways replicate the UK experience, indicating the benefits of a child-centred approach and the considerable potential of such records to improve practice and thus outcomes for looked after children.
Learning with Care: The Education of Children Looked after Away from Home by Local Authorities in Scotland
Authors: Maclean Kirstie , Gunion Morag
Published: March 2013

This article by Kirstie Maclean and Morag Gunion outlines the findings of a recent inspection in Scotland of the educational experiences of looked after children. It considers assessment, care planning and review; attendance arrangements; progress, attainment and support for learning; personal and social development; carers' support for learning; working in partnership; and policies, management and quality assurance. The methodology of the inspection was influenced by previous research and comparison is made between the inspection's main findings and the broader research evidence. Conclusions are drawn about the need for further development.
‘Skills Protect’: Towards a Professional Foster Care Service
Authors: Hutchinson Barbara , Asquith Jane , Simmonds John
Published: March 2013

Almost two-thirds of children and young people looked after by local authorities in England are placed in foster care. Recent studies suggest that the looked after population is significantly different from the general child and young people population in terms of mental and physical health and educational attainment. Failure to recognise and acknowledge the reality of the nature and needs of this population contributes to the current difficulties in providing sufficient and appropriate foster carers. Methods of recruitment, retention and support of foster carers still, in many cases, reflect a historical, now inaccurate, perception of the fostering task. Recent government initiatives have placed a welcome spotlight on the fostering service and are likely to result in improved services. However, the Choice Protects focus on effective commissioning of fostering resources, while necessary, may not be sufficient. In this article, which arises from the observations and conclusions of BAAF social work staff engaged in extensive consultancy with a large number of fostering agencies, Barbara Hutchinson analyses the current situation and proposes key features for the development of an effective fostering service. Her paper was written with support from Jane Asquith and John Simmonds
The Impact of Emotional and Behavioural Problems on the Lives of Children Growing up in the Care System
Authors: McCarthy Gerard , Janeway Janet , Geddes Angus
Published: March 2013

Gerard McCarthy, Janet Janeway and Angus Geddes investigate the way in which the lives of looked after children and their carers are affected by the emotional and behavioural problems that these children and young people often experience. Starting from a sample of 115 children looked after by one English local authority, their study assessed the level of social impairment and distress experienced by looked after children with behavioural disorders. It also examined the duration of these difficulties and the impact of these problems on the carers. The carers, who completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (n = 70), reported very high levels of social impairment in the areas of home life, peer relationships and learning. Fifty-nine per cent of looked after children had an overall impact score of 2 or more, thus indicating the presence of a child psychiatric disorder. Forty per cent had significant problems in three or more key areas of their lives: home, learning, peers and leisure. Where significant problems were identified by carers, 65 per cent reported that the problems had existed for over a year. Almost half the sample revealed that the children's problems were imposing a significant burden on families or other carers, and the level of conduct problems reported was found to be a significant predictor of whether a carer expressed feeling burdened. Some clinical and service implications are discussed.
Barriers to Adoption?: Variations in the Use of Adoption by Local Authorities
Authors: Clifford Derek , Burke Beverley , Ward Simon , Amuzu Lindsay , Goodwin Norman G
Published: March 2013

Political and media interest in adoption in the last few years in Britain coincided with a research project set up jointly by the North-West Group of Voluntary Adoption Agencies and Liverpool John Moores University. The origins of the research lie in the concerns of the voluntary adoption agencies about the use of their services by local authorities in the light of their own records, which indicated very variable patterns of use. The aim of the research was to investigate these apparent anomalies in the use of adoption services and explore the reasons for the differences. A large range of possible factors was involved — structural, political and organisational, as well as professional and personal issues. In this paper Derek Clifford, with support from Beverley Burke, Norman Goodwin, Lindsay Amuzu and Simon Ward, reflects on barriers to the use of adoptive placements by local authorities, with particular but not exclusive reference to the north-west.
Support for Adoptive Families: A Review of Current Evidence on Problems, Needs and Effectiveness
Authors: Rushton Alan
Published: March 2013

This review of research literature is concerned with selected aspects of adoption support, namely the problems for the placed children, the characteristics of the new families, the needs of both children and parents for services and what is known about the effectiveness of interventions for placements in difficulty. Alan Rushton identifies the most useful findings and considers their relevance for providing a modernised adoption support service. He concludes that knowledge is accumulating in many areas although more evaluative research needs to be conducted on promising interventions.
Local Authority and Voluntary Adoption Agencies' Arrangements for Supporting Adoptive Families: A Survey of UK Practice
Authors: Rushton Alan
Published: March 2013

This paper presents the main messages from a survey of adoption support services in local authority and voluntary adoption agencies throughout the UK. The survey examined developments in service provision and delivery resulting from the Government's drive to increase the use of adoption as an option to secure permanence for looked after children. Alan Rushton reports that substantial changes are taking place in many agencies, but that there is further to go to achieve equitable and timely access to specialist services when they are needed.
Moral Consciousness and Decision-Making in Child and Family Social Work
Authors: Houston Stan
Published: March 2013

Child and family social work is beset by value dilemmas. In this paper Stan Houston attempts to find a way out of these entanglements by delving into the moral philosophy of Jurgen Habermas. It is argued that Habermas's ideas on moral discourse enable social workers and others involved in a child's life to reach ethical decisions. Towards the end of the paper, the argument is grounded in two case examples centering on child placement decisions. At this juncture it is argued that Habermas's position creates certain problems for ethical decision-making involving children, but that these problems can be assuaged by a range of compensatory actions including advocacy and critical reflection.
Are We Missing the Match?: Rethinking Adopter Assessment and Child Profiling
Authors: Cousins Jennifer
Published: March 2013

Despite roughly equal numbers of prospective adopters and children for whom adoption is planned, there is a fundamental mismatch between the characteristics of the children available and the ‘kinds’ of children whom adopters want to parent. Applicants during the assessment process are invited to identify the age and characteristics of a future child. When so identified and recorded, adopters' ‘requirements’ rule out a wide spectrum of children from consideration. Barriers to matching are thus erected prematurely and inflexibly. Jennifer Cousins argues that the problem is compounded when children who need new families are reduced to a brief snapshot of special features, a process that tends to highlight ‘deficits’ and fails to portray the whole child. An approach that avoids hypothetical ‘matching’ categories and is led by the needs of the real child might be more effective. A new structure of assessment and linking is suggested, and comments are invited so that the model can be developed further.
Health Problems in Children Adopted from Romania: Association with Duration of Deprivation and Behavioural Problems
Authors: Beckett Celia , Castle Jenny , Groothues Christine , O'Connor Tom , Rutter Michael
Published: March 2013

This paper by Celia Beckett, Jenny Castle, Christine Groothues, Thomas G O'Connor, Michael Rutter and the English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) study team* examines the pattern of health problems as reported by parents in a group of children adopted from Romania and relates these findings to outcomes at age six. The study is based on a representative sample of 165 children, 144 of whom had experienced institutional deprivation, and a UK adoptee group of 52 non-deprived UK adoptees. At the time of UK entry, over half of the children adopted from Romania had marked health problems. The majority had suffered severe malnutrition and there was a high incidence of respiratory, skin and gastro-intestinal infections; 13 per cent had antibodies to hepatitis B. At age six, 17 per cent of the children had conductive hearing loss, 12 per cent had continuing strabismus and 35 per cent skin problems; half of those infected with hepatitis B were still surface antigen positive. Inattention/overactivity at age six was found to be more likely in children who had been exposed to prenatal and postnatal health risks. The children who had quasi-autistic features were also more likely to have strabismus. There were no associations found between health risks and either cognitive outcomes or attachment problems. The risk of inattention/overactivity for children who have suffered marked deprivation was increased for those who had additional health risks.
Developing New Mental Health Services for Looked after Children: A Focus Group Study
Authors: Callaghan Jane , Young Bridget , Richards Maxine , Vostanis Panos
Published: March 2013

Looked after children have extensive mental health needs that are not often met by current mental health service provision. Jane Callaghan, Bridget Young, Maxine Richards and Panos Vostanis describe the use of focus groups with various stakeholders — social services staff, foster carers and residential social workers — to inform the development of a specialist mental health team for looked after children. Thirteen focus groups were conducted, comprising 58 participants in total, and all sessions were audio-taped and transcribed. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method and this revealed several emergent themes: difficulties accessing mental health services, the importance of developing a working partnership between child and adolescent mental health services, social services and foster carers, the need for consultation, and the importance of developing a service that is appropriate to the specific needs of looked after children. The newly developed model of mental health provision for looked after children is described, and the ways in which its form was influenced by the issues identified in focus groups are highlighted.
Identity, Race, Religion and Adoption: The Public and Legal View
Authors: Patel Tina , Williams Catherine , Marsh Peter
Published: March 2013

The importance of the cultural identity of a child awaiting adoption, in terms of ‘race’, religion and ethnic background, is the subject of continuing debate and often controversial and heated discussion. Tina Patel, Catherine Williams and Peter Marsh seek to examine the public and legal perspectives of the debate and in particular the degrees to which the two positions correspond with each other. Over 1,200 questionnaires were used on a stratified sample of members of the general public throughout England and Wales to gather data about public perceptions of adoption. The questionnaires were then analysed to see whether certain characteristics, such as age, gender, religion, ethnic background and family environment, affected public views of the religious and cultural identity of a child in need of adoption. The data gathered from the questionnaires were also examined against the law on adoption, in order to ascertain whether there was any correspondence between the public and the legal views. The authors present the findings from the study, along with a discussion of the relationship between the public perceptions and legal positions on race, religion, identity and adoption.
Adopted Koreans and the Development of Identity in the ‘Third Space’
Authors: Hübinette Tobias
Published: March 2013

Since 1953, 150,000 Korean children have been adopted to 15 main host countries in the West. They constitute the largest international adoptee group worldwide. An adopted Korean movement has existed on an international level since the 1990s and is today trying to formulate an identity and community of its own beyond Western adoption ideology and Korean nationalism. Tobias Hübinette outlines the history of international adoption from Korea, Western and Korean perspectives on international adoption and adopted Koreans, and the emergence of an adopted Korean identity transcending race, citizenship, culture, religion and language in what he terms as the ‘third space’.
What Happens in the Foster Family? A Study of Fostering Relationships in Sweden
Authors: Höjer Ingrid
Published: March 2013

The fostering assignment can have a great impact on the inner dynamics of the foster family. In a study by Ingrid Höjer at the University of Gothenburg, 366 foster carers (192 women and 174 men) responded to a questionnaire, and the wife and husband in 17 foster families were interviewed. Findings reveal how, through fostering, men and women became engaged in a kind of teamwork where both partners were working towards a mutual goal. This partnership seemed to increase the closeness between the couple. Women mainly initiated fostering, but men eventually became equally engaged. Both male and female carers were committed to the fostering task, which at times made it hard for them to combine foster care and parenting their own children. Biological children had less access to parental time and attention, as the problems of their foster siblings had to be the first priority for their parents.
Removing Barriers to Service Delivery: An Outcome Evaluation of a ‘Remodelled’ Foster Care Programme
Authors: Unrau Yvonne A , Wells Michael A , Hartnett Mary Ann
Published: March 2013

Yvonne Unrau, Michael Wells and Mary Ann Hartnett describe a US family-centred, needs-based foster care programme named Promise and present evaluation findings based on a comparison group design evaluation. Promise allowed for greater discretion among line-level workers to meet the unique service needs of families served, promoted greater team-oriented communication and involved more foster family involvement than the comparison group. An initial statistical comparison revealed that foster children in the Promise group (n = 380) experienced greater stability in their caseworker assignment and, to a lesser degree, greater placement stability over a 15-month period when compared to foster children served under the conventional model (n = 436). However, only the caseworker continuity effect remained when further analysis was undertaken. Similar rates of permanency achievement were reported for both models. Implications for foster care policy, practice and research are presented.
Attachment and Behavioural Difficulties in Internationally Adopted Russian Children
Authors: Farina Lana , Leifer Myra , Chasnoff Ira J
Published: March 2013

Lana Farina, Myra Leifer and Ira J Chasnoff assess the impact of institutionalisation and parenting stress on the quality of attachment and behavioural difficulties among Russian children adopted by US families. Some children had been diagnosed with an Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) or mild developmental delays. Twenty-nine families completed a Demographic Questionnaire, Attachment Security Questionnaire, Child Behaviour Checklist and Parenting Stress Index. It was found that parenting stress was significantly correlated with insecure attachment and increased child behavioural difficulties and attachment insecurity was significantly correlated with the severity of behaviour problems. Length of institutionalisation and age at adoption did not correlate with parents' perceptions of their attachment relationships with their children or the severity of their children's behaviour problems. No differences were found with regard to gender or diagnosis of ARND.
User Views and Experiences of Post-Adoption Services: A Study of a Regional Post-Adoption Agency
Authors: Harris Perlita
Published: March 2013

While there has been a growing awareness of the need for post-adoption services for all those personally affected by adoption, little is known about the views and experiences of those who make use of them. The findings here, reported by Perlita Harris, derive from a collaborative study by the University of Warwick and the West Midlands Post Adoption Service (WMPAS), undertaken as a doctoral research project. The aim of the study was to centralise the views of users of WMPAS. The analysis revealed that nearly all service users had approached other people and places for help prior to contacting WMPAS, that most evaluated WMPAS services highly and that, for the majority, receiving a service had in many ways made a positive difference to their lives. Implications for the provision of post-adoption services are discussed, together with some of the study's recommendations. In particular, the latter address publicity, the development of new services and increasing accessibility.
Report on a Longitudinal Research Project, Exploring the Development of Attachments between Older, Hard-To-Place Children and Their Adopters over the First Two Years of Placement
Authors: Kaniuk Jeanne , Steele Miriam , Hodges Jill
Published: March 2013

The study reported here by Jeanne Kaniuk, Miriam Steele and Jill Hodges explored the development of attachments between a group of 63 children aged four to eight years at placement, all of whom had a history of separations and neglect or abuse. The 63 children and their adopters (42 families) were followed up for two years after placement. They were compared with a group of 48 children who had been adopted as infants (under 12 months of age) but who were of similar age to the research sample at the time of the study. Measures used included measures of the children's attachments and psychological development and of the adopters' attachment status and experience as parents. Uniquely in the field of adoption, this project has included measures of attachment that look below the surface to explore the inner worlds of both the children and the adopters. The children's schools were also contacted for a report on their progress.
Primitive Forces in Society: Holding the Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child in Mind
Authors: Simmonds John
Published: March 2013

The following paper by John Simmonds was first presented at a Tavistock Clinic Social Policy and Human Relationships seminar in February 2004. A prologue and references have been added; otherwise the paper is printed here in the style in which it was delivered, as a lecture rather than an article for publication.
Inputs to an Adoption Panel: A Case Study
Authors: O'Sullivan Terence
Published: March 2013

Terence O'Sullivan reports on an observational case study of an adoption panel and focuses on some of its inputs, namely social work reports, social worker attendance and applicant attendance. The research found that although the outputs of the panel meetings were well defined, including the recommendations to the agency decision-maker, the inputs lacked a clear sense of purpose. It was hypothesised that this related to a lack of clarity as to the prime purpose of the panel, in particular whether it was a decision- making group that made recommendations to the agency decision-maker or a decision- validation group, confirming recommendations made by agency social workers. The article discusses ways in which the purpose and inputs of the panel meetings could be aligned with one another and how this could lead to the panel becoming a forum for more open dialogue between panel attendees and panel members.
Intercountry Adoption of Eastern European Children in New Zealand: Parents' Attitudes towards the Importance of Culture
Authors: Scherman Rhoda , Harré Niki
Published: March 2013

Virtually all of the research on the importance of culture in adoption has been on transracial adoption. Little is known about the importance of culture when racially similar children are adopted. Rhoda Scherman and Niki Harré interviewed 112 New Zealand adoptive families of primarily European descent, with 162 predominately Russian and Romanian adoptive children, concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture and the types of cultural activities they engaged in. Results showed that the majority of families did engage in both formal and informal cultural activities and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's ethnicity. Many parents kept part or all of their child's original name. The majority of children were perceived by their parents to identify with both the New Zealand and the birth culture. Future research is planned to examine the relationship between experience with birth culture and the development of a positive self-concept in international adoptees.
Stability, Permanence, Outcomes and Support: Foster Care and Adoption Compared
Authors: Selwyn Julie , Quinton David
Published: March 2013

There are large numbers of children in the care system who are unable to return home and who need a stable permanent placement. Julie Selwyn and David Quinton report some of the findings of a Department of Health-funded study, which followed a complete sample of 130 older children, all of whom had had a best interest decision in favour of adoption as the chosen placement. In the event, not all the children were adopted, making it possible to compare the outcomes of children who were adopted with those who went into long-term foster placements. There were many similarities in the experience of offering an adoptive or foster home to the young people but some key differences were in the stability of placements, the amount of autonomy the adoptive parents/carers had and their views of how close they were to the child and their assessment of the child's closeness to them.
Achieving Permanence for Looked after Children through Special Guardianship: A Study of the Experience of New Zealand Guardians with Implications for Special Guardianship in England
Authors: Ward Peter
Published: March 2013

Special guardianship orders will be introduced in England in 2005 as an integral part of the Government's policy to create more opportunities for permanent family placement, thereby reducing the numbers of looked after children. Special guardianship is designed to fill a niche in permanence provision by persuading both foster carers and kinship carers to offer a home, free of regular social services involvement, to children who would otherwise remain looked after. Particular targets are older children for whom adoption is inappropriate or unachievable for those wishing to maintain a positive relationship with a birth parent. However, similar predecessors, such as custodianship and residence orders have foundered due to lack of interest from such carers. What is likely to make a difference this time around? What will tempt carers to make a move away from their dependence on local authorities and take that final step towards legal permanence? This study by Peter Ward describes New Zealand's experience of guardianship which has been available there since 1968. Discussions with 20 NZ guardians and their former foster children indicate what special guardians in England will require to make such an option attractive to them and effective for young people.
Searching for Siblings: The Motivations and Experiences of Adults Seeking Contact with Adopted Siblings
Authors: Ludvigsen Anna , Parnham Jo
Published: March 2013

In recent years the nature of birth sibling relationships has become a subject of considerable attention within the care system and in relation to adoption. It is now generally recognised that knowledge of and, if possible, contact between adopted children and their birth siblings is of major importance for the identity formation of individual children. However, the significance of this for later life has been little explored. What is the importance of introducing or sustaining contact between siblings who may never have lived together, who only know each other superficially or who are not even aware of each other's existence? One way of shedding more light on such sibling relations is to look at sibling separations and, in particular, at birth siblings who in adult life search for an adopted brother or sister. A significant proportion of birth relatives who approach Barnardo's for information about an adopted adult are birth siblings. They seek information and help to trace their adopted sibling in order to gain contact and reunion. The research reported by Anna Ludvigsen and Jo Parnham focuses on birth siblings' motivations for searching, their feelings in relation to the search and their experiences of contact and reunion with their ‘lost’ sibling.
The Voice of the Child in Family Placement Decision-Making: A Developmental Model
Authors: Schofield Gillian
Published: March 2013

Making sense of children's development, and in particular the impact of maltreatment and loss on children's minds and behaviour, is an essential part both of listening to children and facilitating their participation in family placement decision-making. Gillian Schofield suggests that an understanding of developmental theory can help practitioners to identify children's strengths and difficulties, make sense of children's communications and enable children to feel more valued and effective. A number of key areas of development are linked together into a model that highlights the complex transactional and psychosocial nature of development, while encouraging practitioners to use this knowledge to support and empower children.
Listening to Young Children: Experts in Their Own Lives
Authors: Clark Alison , Statham June
Published: March 2013

Most existing literature on children's participation has focused on their involvement in service planning, delivery and evaluation rather than on children's views of their own world, starting from their interests and concerns. Few studies have considered the views and experiences of young children (under five years old). One of the barriers to this work has been uncertainty about ‘how to listen’ to children at this age. Alison Clark and June Statham explore the Mosaic approach, a methodology for listening to young children that brings together verbal and visual tools to reveal young children's perspectives. The material produced by the children provides a platform for communication between adults and children. Examples are given from two research studies that took place in early childhood institutions in the UK. These illustrate how young children used cameras and participatory activities such as tours and map-making to highlight important people, places and events and to share their views with adults. The discussion focuses on the possible applications of this approach for young children who experience fostering and adoption, including the potential for young children to document and to communicate the important details of their present as well as past lives.
Has Anything Really Changed? Managers' Views of Looked after Children's Participation in 1997 and 2004
Authors: Thomas Nigel
Published: March 2013

A postal survey of local authority child care managers was conducted in 1997–98 as part of a study of children's participation in decision-making in care. The same survey was repeated, with minor variations, in 2004. Nigel Thomas compares what managers said about policy and practice in their local authorities in the two studies. The results suggest that there have been significant perceived changes in the way in which local authorities seek to engage children and young people in the provision of child care services.
The Adoption and Children Act 2002: A Critical Examination
Authors: Ball Caroline
Published: March 2013

The Adoption and Children Act 2002, due to come fully into force on 30 December 2005, effects a long-needed and radical reform of adoption law. The Act has had a very lengthy gestation and is widely regarded as being long overdue. After setting the reforms in a general historical and policy context, Caroline Ball examines, critically, the main provisions of the Act.
Fostering Children with Sexualised Behaviour
Authors: Hardwick Louise
Published: March 2013

Louise Hardwick reports on an evaluation of the perceptions of foster carers attending a group for carers looking after children with sexualised behaviour. The group aimed to provide foster carers with much needed information, knowledge and understanding about the impact of sexual abuse on a child; how as foster carers they could develop strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour from the foster child; and how they could keep the child and other family members safe and cope with the demands of managing an extraordinary home for children who not only need safety but also emotional closeness. The paper documents the views of group participants and compares responses to the findings of research undertaken by others, especially Farmer and Pollock (1998). Additional evidence from literature that addresses the needs of foster carers and sexually abused foster children is drawn on to give a contextual background to the study.
Identity Issues for Looked after Children with No Knowledge of Their Origins: Implications for Research and Practice
Authors: Winter Karen , Cohen Olivia
Published: March 2013

In the area of child care policy and practice, the benefits for children who are separated from their birth parents of maintaining some form of connection with their family of origin is now widely accepted. The arguments in support of this are found mainly in research concerning adoption and stem from four inter-related themes: children's rights to know of their heritage and background; parents' rights to information about the well-being of their children; the benefits of having knowledge about origins; and concerns about the impact of not knowing. The effects on the developing identities of those who, for various reasons, are unlikely ever to know the details of their birth parent(s) is an under-researched issue. Karen Winter and Olivia Cohen use a case study to illustrate some of the gaps concerning knowledge in this area. They argue that there is much to be learnt from the development of research projects which have as their focus the accounts of children and young people, from a wide range of care arrangements, regarding identity issues where they have no connections with or knowledge about their birth parent(s).
‘I Have No Beginning and No End‘: The Experience of Being a Foundling
Authors: Mullender Audrey , Pavlovic Anita , Staples Victoria
Published: March 2013

Audrey Mullender, Anita Pavlovic and Victoria Staples report on the second stage of a study of abandonment conducted at the University of Warwick in 2002–03. Interviews with ten adults who had been ‘foundlings' revealed a wealth of thoughts and feelings that were often significantly different from those of other adopted people. Abandonment is harder to talk about and perhaps harder to come to terms with than adoption alone. The profound ignorance about identity, encompassing such fundamental details as original name, ethnicity and date of birth, also marks out foundlings as having particular issues to come to terms with. Nevertheless, those interviewed had grown out of being angry towards their birth mothers and wondered what they must have gone through to do something so desperate. Birth records counselling and attempts at tracing back to the earliest months of life were of limited use. NORCAP had been supportive to a number but, again, could not get past the lack of information. Much more could be done to help in policy and practice terms, notably by extending the Adoption Contact Register in specific ways that would help foundlings. Beyond this, decriminalising and facilitating abandonment are major social policy questions overdue for consideration in the UK.
Processes and Outputs of an Adoption Panel: A Case Study
Authors: O'Sullivan Terence
Published: March 2013

This article examines the processes and outputs of an adoption panel and is the second by Terence O'Sullivan to report on an observational case study. The research investigates how representative and participative panel members were, how attendee presence was structured, what the panel focused on and how conclusions were reached. The panel considered social work proposals in relation to looked after children whose permanence plan was adoption. A scrutiny process was observed that took the form of identifying issues, asking questions, being reassured (or not), coming to a conclusion and giving feedback. The importance of the panel's work stems from its scrutiny of social work proposals and the article suggests various ways in which this could be made more effective.
Lesbian and Gay Foster Care and Adoption: A Brief UK History
Authors: Hicks Stephen
Published: March 2013

Stephen Hicks presents a history of foster care and adoption by lesbians and gay men in the UK since 1988. He reviews key research, policy, law and debates about lesbian and gay carers and discusses key changes and developments in this field of practice. The article discusses a number of common arguments that surface in debates about this topic, including the idea that the children of lesbians and gay men will suffer psychosocial damage or develop problematic gender and sexual identity. In addition, the author critiques the notion that children do best in ‘natural’ two-parent, heterosexual families and that lesbian or gay carers should not be considered or should be used only as a ‘last resort’. Although the number of approved lesbian and gay carers has been increasing and there has been a range of positive changes in this field, it is argued that a series of homophobic ideas remain a key feature of this debate. The article asks how much things have changed since 1988 and what social work can do to contribute to an anti-homophobic practice.
The Experience of Being Privately Fostered
Authors: Peart Edwina
Published: March 2013

This article by Edwina Peart provides information on a little known subject, private fostering. It builds on the work of Holman (1973, 2002) and Philpot (2001) who provide the only other studies of this type of care. The focus adopted represents a shift from the dominance of a professional perspective in these earlier studies. Within the current policy context, the study is timely as it explores both the benefits and dangers of this form of child care. It also adds to the debate on transracial adoption
Fostering Now: Messages from Research: A Summary
Authors: Berridge David
Published: March 2013

In this article, David Berridge summarises the main conclusions of the latest research overview in the Government's Messages from Research series. The overview, Fostering Now, written by Ian Sinclair, includes findings from 16 studies.
Time for a Change: A Review of Fostering Now and other Programmes of Research on Children in Need
Authors: Little Michael
Published: March 2013

Fostering Now (Sinclair, 2005) is one of the most important books on foster care in recent years. It presents new information and is part of a series of publications on children's services designed to convey research messages to policy makers and practitioners. However, Michael Little argues that if key questions are to be answered and effective services developed, different types of research and new methods of dissemination are needed.
Children's Advocacy in Wales: Organisational Challenges for Those Who Commission and Deliver Advocacy for Looked after Children
Authors: Pithouse Andrew , Parry Odette
Published: March 2013

Andrew Pithouse and Odette Parry set out results from a Welsh Assembly Government-funded study of all children's advocacy services commissioned by local authorities in Wales. The results are presented in relation to key organisational themes that include the characteristics of children's advocacy services in Wales and the views of advocacy services held by local authority staff. Particular prominence is given to matters concerning looked after children where it will be seen that (a) advocacy providers tend to deliver case- or issue-based services and do relatively less in the way of cause-based advocacy, (b) most advocacy providers see themselves as both insufficiently funded by and independent of those commissioning their services, (c) local authority staff typically view advocacy as a service of benefit to children and families rather than of any direct benefit to authorities and (d) there remain significant difficulties in providing advocacy for ‘hard-to-reach’ children such as fostered children, children in respite care and children placed out of the local authority area. The paper concludes that there is a strong case for national government in Wales to promote a step-change in the way children's advocacy is organised so that a more strategically coherent and regional approach is taken that can deliver an independent, equitable, accessible and more uniform quality of advocacy provision for vulnerable children and young people.