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In Australia, there are more than 46 000 children in out‐of‐home care (OOHC). Most of these children have been in OOHC for more than 2 years. Similarly, there are more than 407 000 children in the United States and over 80 800 in England who are 'looked after' with approximately one third of these children being in OOHC for more than 2 years. This paper concerns 'looked after' children's rights to contact with their birth parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requires child protection systems to recognize the rights of children to maintain contact with their families except where this is not in the child's 'best interests'. In this paper, we report on a qualitative study conducted in Australia exploring legal and family support practitioners' perceptions of barriers to contact between children in OOHC and their birth parents. The thematic analysis identified four themes: These were as follows: a focus on systems driven responses; lack of cultural recognition and responsiveness; carers' disconnection from birth parents; and parents' exclusion. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding and recognizing children's right to contact with birth parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of parents' cannabis use in the context of child protection has far‐reaching implications for how their parenting is perceived and assessed and for the decisions made regarding their children's lives. Yet little is known about the meanings various stakeholders in child protection processes attribute to parents' cannabis use. This paper aims to explore constructions of parents' cannabis use in child protection court proceedings and position them within a political and social context. A qualitative data mining method was used to examine 32 Family Court judgements in care proceedings that involved parents using cannabis in England and Wales. The analysis of the judgements revealed that most portrayed parents' cannabis use as a negative, deviant and harmful activity. Three constructions of cannabis use were identified: cannabis use as a risk to children, cannabis use as proof of parents' deficits, and cannabis use as (responsible) self‐medication. The discussion considers the findings in light of two social and political processes that underpin child protection policy and practice: the adoption of a risk perspective and the manifestation of othering processes. Implications for policy and practice highlight the importance of developing a critical framework for responding to parental cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper discusses some key findings taken from a qualitative study conducted with gay and lesbian adopters and foster carers in England and Wales. The study examined the experiences of 24 self‐identified lesbians and gay men, who had been involved in adoption or fostering processes since the introduction of the Adoption and Children Act, 2002. This article will explore why participants chose to adopt or foster and their approach to relationships generated through these routes. Findings indicate that gay and lesbian applicants troubled dominant conceptualisations of family and kinship and revealed both heteronormative and nuclear constructions of parenting within adoption and fostering social work. In contrast, participants often demonstrated a reflexive and creative approach to caring for looked after children. This paper will therefore consider how professionals can recognise nuanced or complex relationships, situated beyond traditional frameworks, through drawing upon wider concepts within sociological literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professed aim of any social welfare or legal intervention in family life is often to bring about "better outcomes for the children." But there is considerable ambiguity about "outcomes," and the term is far too often used in far too simplistic a way. This paper draws on empirical research into the outcomes of care proceedings for a randomly selected sample of 616 children in England and Wales, about half starting proceedings in 2009–2010 and the others in 2014–2015. The paper considers the challenges of achieving and assessing "good outcomes" for the children. Outcomes are complex and fluid for all children, whatever the court order. One has to assess the progress of the children in the light of their individual needs and in the context of "normal" child development, and in terms of the legal provisions and policy expectations. A core paradox is that some of the most uncertain outcomes are for children who remain with or return to their parents; yet law and policy require that first consideration is given to this option. Greater transparency about the uncertainty of outcomes is a necessary step towards better understanding the risks and potential benefits of care proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of standardized screening tools to identify trauma exposure and associated symptoms is commonly recommended as a key component in the development of trauma informed services and is seen as integral to facilitating access to evidence‐based therapies. However, there is limited evidence in the UK about the factors influencing the adoption of such tools into routine practice in children's social care. This paper presents the findings from a process evaluation of how practitioners implemented a screening tool for post‐traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression into their day‐to‐say practice and what worked or did not work during the process. The findings from this study highlight the potential benefits for both young people and practitioners, alongside some of the challenges involved. In particular, practitioners need to see the direct benefit for young people of being assessed. Additionally, practitioners value regular mentoring as they become more proficient in using standardized screening tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited research has been conducted in relation to social work and the impact upon kinship carers' own children in a UK context. This paper argues that pressure from government policy imperatives and organizational priorities creates tension and conflict in the professional self in the context of kinship care and with kinship carers' own children. It will examine the professional self through social work narratives utilising the two concepts economy of performance and ecology of practice. This paper focuses upon data from four focus groups and 16 semi-structured interviews carried out with 29 social workers within one local authority in the north of England. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Only data related to the professional self are examined. The discussion explores how social workers attempted to navigate the tension in their everyday practice. It illuminates the impact upon their performance in kinship care and implications for practice with carers' own children. The conclusion reveals the need for social workers to create a space within which kinship carers' own children's voices are heard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing concerns about the efficacy and costs of intrusive child protection interventions and increasing recognition of citizen rights to participation in governance, jurisdictions are looking to collaborative alternatives that divert families from the courts and out‐of‐home care. In Queensland (Australia), "intervention with parental agreement" (IPA) is one such response. Under IPA, the statutory child protection authority can work collaboratively with families, without a court order, to respond to children assessed as "in need of protection." In this paper, we use procedural justice theory as a lens to explore how IPA policy is enacted in practice. Procedural justice relates to the quality of treatment a person receives and the fairness of the process than an authority uses during decision‐making (Tyler,). It is associated with voluntary cooperation and compliance; key practice concerns when working to address child maltreatment via parental agreement rather than court ordered intervention. We report on a qualitative study that utilized semistructured, in‐depth interviews to capture the perceptions of 30 practitioners regarding the factors that shape the extent to which they enact IPA policy in a procedurally fair manner. Strategies for enhancing procedurally just enactment of IPA policy in practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) has been found to have a detrimental and long‐lasting impact upon a victim's physical and emotional well‐being. A large body of research has raised concerns about how practitioners identify and respond to CSE. In particular, research has indicated that male victims of CSE are commonly being overlooked by practitioners. It has been suggested that this may occur as a result of gender stereotypes. However, this has not been specifically explored by existing research. Therefore, this research project explored how gender stereotypes may influence how practitioners identify and respond to children and young people who are victims (or at risk) of CSE. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight practitioners from one Youth Offending Service in the South West of England. Three key themes emerged from the interviews. These themes highlight that as a result of gender stereotypes, practitioners may be less likely and/or slower to identify males as victims and may be less likely to provide males with supportive multi‐agency responses. This paper makes recommendations about how this issue can be addressed to ensure that all victims of CSE are adequately safeguarded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many evidence-based tools and measures exist to support child protection practice, in the United Kingdom, there is little evidence of their routine use in casework. This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring the use of such tools with children and families receiving statutory social care services. Fifteen social workers working in child safeguarding teams in two local authorities in Southeast England agreed to incorporate the use of outcome measures into their casework over a 6-month period. Qualitative data were collected through monthly action learning workshops held separately in each local authority. The results showed how the impact of using the measures was shaped by a combination of institutional factors, practice context and the dynamics of casework. Outcome measures were found to have benefits as well as limitations with respect to partnership working, assessment and decision-making and overall social work practice. Implications are discussed for the prospects of enhancing the use of evidence-based tools in statutory social work with children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper draws on the findings of a research study that examined the factors that influence local decision-making in cases where a child or young person is being considered by residential workers, social workers and senior managers for placement in a secure unit. After outlining the research problem and case study approach taken, the paper focuses on explicating the findings of the study that relate to the impact of group membership, goals, roles and norms on group performance in such cases. The paper illustrates how attending to these four areas, and the way in which power relations impact on them, may help those developing and managing groups to improve decision-making practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT From the findings of a study examining the perspective of parents using Intensive Family Support Service based in northern England, this paper examines the constituent elements required for effective relationship-based practice. Although the study is based in a single site in England, the findings are more broadly relevant, given both national and international interests in relationship-based practice in child protection. The participants in this study - parents whose children had been assessed as being 'at the edge of care'- were asked to comment on the intervention they had received. Analysis of parents' interviews suggests that the service user-worker relationship was critical to their positive experience of the service. The paper provides an analysis of parents' descriptions of 'positive relationships' and identifies the key themes. It then considers these findings in the context of contemporary children and families' social work practice. Engaging with current debates, the paper makes reference to the impact of modernization, which has served to erode effective face-to-face work with families, given excessive 'backroom' demands of administration and audit. Discussion engages with an emerging emphasis on effective relationship-based practice following reports from Munro and the Social Work Reform Board. In this context, the paper concludes that the views of these families whose children are on the 'edge of care' offers insights into the skills required for relationship-based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African immigrant children and youth have some of the poorest social and mental health outcomes in Canada. Although parenting challenges have been widely documented as a key driver of these outcomes, limited systematic research has investigated this phenomenon. In this paper, we report the results of a study examining parenting challenges among a sample of African immigrant parents in Alberta, Canada. We relied on the theoretical lens of transnationalism to collect and analyse data from a purposive sample of African community leaders (n = 14), African immigrant parents (n = 32), and a range of stakeholders (n = 30). Our thematic data analysis revealed several intricately intertwined parenting challenges, organized around six overarching themes, namely, cultural incompatibility, family tension, state interference, limited social supports, poor access to services, and low socioeconomic status. We present these themes and the policy and service implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an empirical study of child protection services in a local authority where rates of investigations and interventions rose to unprecedented levels during the course of a single year. The aim of the research was to explore explanations for this rise in demand among the providers of children's social care in the area. Using an interpretative qualitative design, a series of focus groups and interviews were carried out with practitioners and managers (n = 25) from statutory services and Early Help. The findings identified a combination of long‐term and short‐term drivers of demand. Long‐term factors emphasized the impact of rising levels of deprivation combined with cuts to community‐based services for children and young people. Short‐term factors ranged from a more proactive approach to child neglect to more effective multi‐agency partnerships and joint decision making. The interaction between these factors was found to be accentuating an underlying shift to "late intervention" across the sector. The findings are contextualized in relation to contemporary debates about the crisis of demand for children's social care and the complex relationship between prevention and protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing numbers of grandparent special guardians (GSGs) are assuming responsibility for increasing numbers of children in the care system in England. Special guardianship arrangements are increasingly used as a permanency option as they allow children to remain in their kinship networks rather than in local authority care or be adopted; yet there is a scarcity of research on GSG carers' experiences. This paper reports a small qualitative research study where 10 sets of grandparents were interviewed to explore their journey to becoming GSGs and to theorize their subsequent experiences. Two themes emerge. First, experiences of the assessment process are elaborated, decisions often being made at a time of family crisis, impacting on GSGs: financial, employment, and relational. Second, GSGs' experiences of managing often challenging relationships and contact arrangements between the grandchildren and the parents reveal three main relationship management approaches emerging: containing‐flexible, containing‐controlled, and uncontained/defeated approaches. Anthropological concepts of affinity help theorize the GSGs' ambivalent responses to becoming carers in later life, enabling reconfigured kinship relationships in new family forms. Family policy and social work practice is critiqued as GSGs appear often left alone to "roll back the years," to heal previous harms done to the grandchildren who end up in their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative study of child protection in the UK. The research involved children's practitioners from a range of agencies, including social care, education, health and youth offending, who were asked about working together on complex child protection cases. The aim was to explore how participants talked about complexity in these cases, in order to deconstruct influential perspectives on interprofessional working. Interview transcripts were analysed using critical discourse analysis, a qualitative method that examines patterns of language use in relation to social structures of power and control. The findings identified three overall perspectives: clinical, expert system and relation‐centred approaches, which practitioners combined in various ways. These perspectives have a bearing on how the ‘team around the child’ is conceptualized in discourse about child protection. The paper links these findings to the assumptions of predictability and control currently embedded in policy and practice guidance, and explores their implications for social workers and other children's practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, Ghanaian families facing difficulties address their problems by engaging kin, with the State being the last point of call. However, in recent times, more families facing difficulties are contacting social services to seek redress. So what contribution are kin and other informal social support networks providing to the care and safety of children of such families? This paper presents findings from 15 families receiving services from the Department of Social Welfare in Sekondi, Ghana. Through semistructured in‐depth interviews, the families shared their views on the roles played by their kin and informal social networks in contributing to the care of their children. The study findings suggest that kin still plays a vital role in the support of parenting through imbibing of norms and values; whereas the provision of casual support is provided by nonkin in one's social support network on the basis of reciprocity. Therefore, it was concluded that in developing social welfare policies to ensure better outcomes for children in Ghana attention also has to be placed on the supportive role of the community for families in danger of disruption as there is likely to be limited familial safety net for support in child care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the social work profession has been increasingly sensitized to the spiritual needs of those that they are working with, recent history has demonstrated that professionals lack the knowledge and skills needed for understanding those who are subscribing to strong religious beliefs. The research reported in this paper draws on a qualitative study that examined the perceived caregiving practice of parents from the Seventh-day Adventist faith community associated with the conservative Protestant sub-culture. Twenty-five participants aged 20-50 were invited to recall their experiences of being reared by practicing Adventist parents in the UK. An integrative phenomenological analysis yielded a number of themes that shed light on the relationship between religion and parenting. This paper will focus on the three key ideas that emerged: parenting was influenced by beliefs that parents held; a combination of warm and strict parenting was found with some evidence of stricter upbringing amongst black respondents; responses to parenting reported varied between acceptance and discomfort. The study gave valuable insight into individuals' experiences of a religious upbringing received within a secular environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates young care leavers' expectations of their future after discharge from care. The results are based on qualitative longitudinal data where 16‐ to 21‐year‐old care leavers (n = 15) were interviewed twice, first when still in care but planning for their discharge (T1) and the second time 6–9 months later (T2). The analysis using a general inductive approach showed that their expectations were dependent on the time horizon and that there was an obvious difference between the young informants' short‐ and long‐term expectations. Their short‐term expectations consisted of worries connected to their approaching discharge (at T1) and how to cope with challenges of everyday life after discharge from care (at T2). These results seem to echo negative outcomes shown in previous quantitative research. However, the informants' long‐term expectations provide a different picture, being mainly positive in both interviews (T1 and T2). The results are discussed from a life course perspective, where the informants' visions of their future are framed and understood in terms of the different stages of their transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research identifies the increased exposure of birth children of foster carers to experiences of separation, grief, and loss due to the transient nature of foster care, but little is known about how birth children manage this loss. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that examined the retrospective experiences of 15 adult birth children of foster carers (aged between 18 and 28 years) in Ireland. Findings suggest that birth children experience grief and loss when foster children leave their families. They report experiencing a range of emotional responses such as guilt, blame, and sadness. A reluctance to discuss their emotional responses with either their parents or foster care professionals was also reported. Instead, birth children developed strategies to manage the loss, such as distancing themselves from the foster care process. The study highlights the importance of social workers and foster carers explaining to birth children why foster children are leaving and, where possible, maintaining contact between birth children and foster children. Additionally, findings indicate the need for birth children to have safe nonjudgmental spaces to discuss their emotional reactions to loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine family stigma as one form of the stigma of mental illness in child and youth mental health. Presented are the outcomes of a thematic content analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with seven ( n = 7) young siblings, ages 13 to 21 years old, with a brother or sister identified as having a mental-health issue. The focus of the interviews was on the ways the siblings experienced their other sibling's mental health and how those experiences shaped their sense of self and family. From the analysis, young siblings had predominately negative experiences, struggled with making sense of their brother or sister and the family as 'flawed' against the mental illness as 'bad' and experienced considerable family stress and overt family stigma. Current practice theories fail to consider the complexity of these factors and, in doing so, fail to adequately explain the nature and extent to which stigmatization occurs for immediate family members. The importance of peer support and understanding stigma in social work practice with children and their families is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative study into the experiences of parents who were involved in the English child protection system in 2013. Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted involving 19 parents and/or partners, and a framework approach was used to analyse the data. There were positive experiences of individual social workers and some positive experiences of the child protection system. However, the overwhelming theme of the parents' experiences was that the system was uncaring, inflexible and for some harmful to both themselves and their children. Despite being included in the child protection process, parents felt they were not afforded the same rights as a participant, as a decision-maker or as a partner in seeking to improve the situation. The threat of consequences silenced parents who felt unable to speak out or challenge the things they disagreed with or coerced others into signing agreements they did not agree to. Such experiences related to a sense that they were being treated as 'less than human'. These findings are considered within the context of recent reforms within the English child protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental incarceration has wide-ranging impacts on families. One key effect may be disruption to the care and legal custody of children, yet few studies have examined processes and outcomes relating to care planning for children of prisoners. This paper presents findings of interviews with 151 primary carer prisoners in two Australian states which aimed to address this research gap. The study examined care planning for children upon parental arrest, sentencing and imprisonment, stability of care arrangements and primary carer prisoners' involvement and satisfaction with care planning. Around one third of prisoners had discussions regarding children's care arrangements at arrest and imprisonment, although the issue was more commonly raised at sentencing. While there was much variation in the stability of care arrangements, children placed in out-of-home care experienced the most instability. A minority of prisoners reported being involved in care planning and decision-making for children upon imprisonment, and around one third rated care planning process poorly. Prisoners were more satisfied with care planning when there were fewer movements of children, where prisoners felt involved with decision-making, and when police officers, lawyers and corrections staff inquired about the welfare of their children. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the law in England and Wales requires a child's wishes and feelings to be heard in LAC (Looked After Children) reviews, there remains limited research into how far this is achieved. This study interviewed 25 children and 16 foster carers to explore how well children understand and take part in reviews, and what factors impede this. The study found that levels of participation, as experienced by children and foster carers, were very low and the methods used were relatively ineffective. Children experienced significant barriers in engaging with the review process. The paper concludes that, as a vehicle of children's participation, LAC reviews are still not working well and calls for more attention to the views of children and young people and to the effectiveness of LAC reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work has a central role in negotiating and supporting birth family contact following adoption from care. This paper argues that family display (Finch) offers a useful conceptual resource for understanding relationships in the adoptive kinship network as they are enacted through contact. It reports on an interpretative phenomenological analysis of adoptive parents' accounts of open adoption from care that revealed direct and indirect contact to be contexts in which they and birth relatives performed family display practices: communicating the meaning of their respective relationships with the adopted child and seeking recognition that this was a legitimate family relationship. The analysis explores how family display was performed, and the impact of validating or invalidating responses. It aims to illuminate these social and interpretive processes involved in adoptive kinship in order to inform social work support for contact. The findings suggest that successful contact may be promoted by helping adoptive and birth relatives validate the legitimacy of the other's kin connection with the child, and through arrangements that facilitate family-like interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide growth in formal youth mentoring programmes over the past two decades is partly a response to the perception that young people facing adversity do not have access to supportive relationships with adults and positive role models in their communities to the degree they once had. Formal mentoring programmes facilitate the development of a friendship or ‘match’ between an older volunteer and a young person, with the objective of supporting the young persons’ personal and social development. Drawing on 66 semi‐structured interviews with young people, parents, mentors and caseworkers associated with nine youth mentoring matches in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Programme in Ireland, this paper analyses the forms of social support evident in the mentor–mentee relationships and highlights how the mentoring relationship was perceived to have impacted on the well‐being of the young people participating. The findings reflect the consensus in the mentoring literature that close, well‐established mentoring relationships have the potential to bring about meaningful change in the lives of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation of children exposed to intimate partner violence ( IPV) raises certain issues related to child neglect. Little is known about how children exposed to IPV perceive and describe their living conditions. This paper addresses this lack by analysing aspects of fathers' care in descriptions given by children whose fathers have subjected the mothers to IPV. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 10 children aged 8-12 years. Three themes constitute the results. First, the fathers are not described by the children as engaged and responsible care providers. Second, in their general descriptions of how mothers and fathers fill complementary roles for the child, parenthood seems to mean in practice that the mother is the provider of (almost) everything the child may need. Third, the mere absence of violence seems to be judged 'good-enough' fathering in the children's descriptions. Altogether, this leads to the conclusion that being exposed to IPV and believing that mothers are responsible for their welfare precludes children from viewing their fathers as responsible for their well-being. The limited utility for child welfare practice of a 'child-based' definition of neglect in cases of IPV is discussed, and alternatives are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper considers social and personal/individual approaches to researching identities of adolescents with severe learning disabilities; suggesting that vital components of emotionality and relatedness are largely missing from research and consequently from literature informing social care professionals. This leaves untapped, rich information and communication resources for research which may improve understandings of the experiences of a socially excluded group of young people. A psychosocial view of adolescent identity development, 'subjectivation', offers a way forward and a case study on 'Billy', drawn from a 'practice-near' observational study, helps to illustrate this. Observation allows the researcher to be sensitive to the subtle ways in which identities of young people with severe learning disabilities are constructed, often with a sense of fragility and uncertainty. Continuities of experience between the young people and the rest of the adolescent community may be seen, but also the impact of living with impairment can be thought about in relation to the particular psychosocial circumstances of each young person. Knowledge of these processes enhances social work practice by encouraging workers to be sensitive to, and healthily curious about, the multiple ways in which identities of young people with severe learning disabilities are shaped in relationship with those around them and the wider social field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Family preservation services (FPS) include a set of services designed to prevent out-of-home placement for children at risk of child maltreatment. Research examining FPS is inconsistent, with some studies reporting positive results, while others fail to demonstrate improved outcomes for many families. To understand the experience of receiving these services from the perspective of consumers, this paper reports the qualitative findings from a mixed methods study to examine families' experiences with FPS. To accomplish this objective, a purposive sample of 36 families was followed from referral to case closure. Specifically, 85 semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted at onset, midpoint and case closure to examine the perceptions of clients throughout service delivery. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using open and secondary coding strategies. Findings suggest that similar to other studies, families' perceptions of FPS were mixed. Some found the services relevant and supportive, while others were less satisfied. The four qualitative themes discussed by these participants included service content, service delivery, emotional support and tangible support. These themes help to provide in-depth descriptions of the perspectives of this sample of families. Implications for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT When children are removed from their families because of maltreatment, the child welfare system seeks reunification whenever possible. Despite the importance of this goal, little is known about families who are able to achieve and maintain successful reunification. This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with 15 families who completed their child welfare case plans, were reunited with their children and remained together for at least 1 year post-reunification. Narrative analysis using a combination of thematic and structural coding was completed to examine the strengths and process families discussed related to their successful child welfare outcomes. This paper discusses one of those strengths, spirituality, in greater depth. Specifically, 12 participants situated the strength of spirituality within their stories as an important narrative element they perceived as critical, leading to important changes. Findings highlight the benefits some families receive from their spiritual beliefs, practices and faith communities when working towards reunification, suggesting child welfare practitioners be prepared to identify and honour this family strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the use of qualitative data analysis of in-depth interviews with eight white international transracial adoptive mothers, four properties emerged that describe these mothers' racial views. These properties varied in the degree that they integrated perspectives different from the white dominant culture. The mothers did not experience significant changes in their perspective on race subsequent to adoption. This paper includes a discussion of white racial identity and implications for social work practice with transracially adoptive parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of a research project which explored the care factors that influence the educational achievement of looked-after children. The project was innovative because it focused on children looked after at home and away from home. A mixed-methods strategy was adopted to analyse data from two large Scottish local authorities. The project developed, what is to date, the largest dataset which includes variables for one-fifth of children discharged from care in Scotland over a 5-year period. The qualitative element of the project collected in-depth data on the care and education experiences of looked-after children and care leavers. The overall finding was that looked-after children perform less well academically than their counterparts in the general school population. The empirical data indicated that factors such as placement type, reason for becoming looked after and age on becoming looked after were significant in determining educational achievement. Empirical results further indicated that looked-after children suffered from discrimination and social exclusion in many areas of their lives, including school and where they lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation of families undergoing separation in a context of co-occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment raises certain issues related to child custody. The results presented in this paper were collected and analysed within the framework of a qualitative study aiming to identify the principal points of agreement and the main controversies amongst practitioners in several different types of organizations. Focus groups were held with a total of 43 practitioners from six different settings concerned with child custody in cases of co-occurrence of IPV and child maltreatment. Although they agreed on the importance of ensuring the safety of victims of violence, their views diverged on three points: (1) the importance of preserving the father-child relationship; (2) collaboration between voluntary organizations and semi-voluntary or legal agencies; and (3) consideration of cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The child welfare system is characterized by fixed power structures, coercion and hierarchies that privilege the perspectives of a select few. These oppressive aspects of the system quelch youth voice and others' voices, especially those with lived experience, frequently omitting them from case‐ and system‐level decisions. Acknowledging the empowering potential of creative and arts‐based research, this study used poetic inquiry with youth in or formerly in foster care, parent partners and professionals working in child welfare, inviting them to reimagine how the system could support youth in foster care towards thriving. Through seven poetry focus groups, 41 participants wrote individual and relational poems. Analyses focused on how symbols were used and their suggestions for revisioning child welfare. Seven themes identified the types of symbols used in poems: 1) Nature/Natural Phenomena, 2) Human Body/Senses, 3) Actions, 4) Physical Objects, 5) Paperwork, Cases, Bureaucracy, 6) Connectedness/Family and 7) Strong Emotions. Beyond demonstrating a novel arts‐based method, findings offer a new, creative space for understanding the foster care system. Symbols were powerful and cut across life experiences and identities. A key implication pointed to using symbolic language to aid the work of revisioning child welfare towards humanistic and embodied approaches, social justice and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disabled young people leaving care often experience a more complex transition to adulthood than other youths. Still, policy and services can fail to recognize the intersection between a young person's care experiences and disability. Drawing on data from a qualitative interview study with 14 social workers who work with aftercare in the Norwegian child welfare services, we investigate social workers' professional judgements about support for this subgroup of the leaving care population. Our analysis uses the theoretical construct of institutional logics and shows that social workers did not include concepts of disability in their judgements about support for these young people. Instead, the social workers' considerations were guided by three other organizing principles: a 'medical logic', an 'activation logic' and an 'aftercare logic'. We discuss these findings in light of critical disability studies and argue for a more nuanced understanding of disability in social work practice with care leavers. Highlighting disability rights and going beyond diagnosis and categorisations of disabled people can challenge a medical model approach to service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social distancing due to COVID‐19 forced changes to contact with birth relatives for children in out‐of‐home care. This required a shift to using technologies, which was previously underutilized and viewed as risky. In an action research study, 33 caseworkers in New South Wales, Australia, reflected upon adapting their practices. Three key themes characterized the changes in caseworker practices and how these impacted upon social interactions between children and their birth and carer families: communication, not location; shared not separate spaces and spontaneous not restricted interaction. First, caseworkers described how contact via technologies involved fewer logistical arrangements, shifting the focus on interactions among children and their two families and encouraging these to be flexible and child‐centred. Second, caseworkers discussed how spending time together virtually could build trust, as carers and birth relatives could forge relationships around shared commitment to the child's wellbeing. Third, caseworkers noted that technology‐facilitated communication enabled greater choice and control for children while requiring renegotiating boundaries. The findings reflect a shift in caseworker perceptions of technology‐facilitated contact from a risk to opportunity framework as a result of COVID‐19 conditions, consistent with social shaping of technology theory. Beyond the pandemic, contact with birth relatives can be enhanced through technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the experiences of adolescent caregivers of mentally ill parents is essential to understand their challenges and identify their care needs. Using a qualitative research design, 18 caregiving adolescents shared their experiences of living with and providing care to a parent with a severe mental illness. The analysis of the interviews resulted in the emergence of three main categories: (1) emotional exhaustion with associated subthemes of 'ongoing worries', 'fear of loneliness', 'feeling of shame and guilt' and 'fear of discrimination and stigma'; (2) being trapped in a difficult situation with subthemes of 'living a compromised life', 'alienating from peers' and 'caregiver rather than care receiver; and (3) adapting to the situation with subthemes of developing new skills and growing accountability. The study findings suggest that adolescent caregivers of parents with severe mental illness experience significant challenges and psychological distress associated with their caregiving role. They need to be supported by health care providers to develop strategies to adjust to their situation and maintain health and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 16 million people in the United States belong to a mixed‐status family in which at least one member of their household is undocumented. The current study will explore adult reflections on childhood experiences of parental deportation in order to elucidate their meaning of the loss and if their experiences resemble an ambiguous loss. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was utilized to analyse in‐depth retrospective meaning‐making narratives of adult children who lost a parent to deportation. Findings indicate that the children of detained or deported parents experienced difficulty not knowing what was happening, believed their parents would return, and noted family practices that they found to be helpful or unhelpful in processing their loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'sibling sexual dynamics' (SSD) describes (in this study) a continuum of childhood sexual behaviours that are inconsistent with age‐appropriate curiosity and can include abuse (SSA). The present qualitative study, based on 20 semi‐structured interviews, conducts an analysis via constructivist grounded theory on the perspectives of adults who, as children in the Orthodox Jewish community, experienced sexual interactions with one or more of their siblings. Ultimately, the goal is to deepen the understanding of the religio‐cultural aspects of SSD in this cultural context. The findings reveal three main themes: (1) taboos, both those relating to intrafamilial sexual encounters and the religious taboo around sexuality in general; (2) family hierarchic dynamics, including gender‐based hierarchies; and (3) religious prohibition, a concept that the participants perceive as influencing their modes of thought and logic. The study highlights the need for practitioners to attend to the double ambiguity arising from the sibling and religious contexts. Additionally, we suggest that distinguishing between religious and interpretative socio‐cultural factors may provide practitioners with a path to create a dialogue with clients, individuals and religious leaders within the community around issues that may constitute risk for sibling sexual acts and abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For effective childcare, identifying challenges and exploring the solutions to those challenges is critical. This study explores the different challenges of childcare in child care institutions and its solutions from caregivers' perspectives. The researcher uses a basic interpretive design approach and selects 39 respondents by purposive sampling, and uses semi‐structured interviews. The findings indicate need for separate institutions for different categories of children and trained and professional caregivers, balancing gender engagement, the necessity for establishing separate institutional care for differently able children, need for effective implementation of foster care and sponsorship and need to work with families for effective children's restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID‐19 and its related policy measures have increased the psychological distress of individuals, including grandparent kinship caregivers. Guided by the Resilience Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, this study examines relationships between material hardship, parenting stress, social support, resilience and psychological distress of grandparent kinship caregivers during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as the moderating role of kinship license status on these relationships. Kinship care licensing is a prerequisite to receiving financial assistance and other supporting services from the government. We administered a cross‐sectional survey of grandparent kinship caregivers (N = 362) in the United States. Logistic regression results indicated that material hardship was associated with higher odds of experiencing psychological distress, whereas resilience and social support were associated with lower odds. Kinship license status moderated the relationships of social support and resilience with psychological distress. Results suggest that additional emergency funds and more tailored financial services should be provided to meet material needs, and interventions with a focus on resilience and social support are particularly needed. The moderating effects of license status indicate that some interventions should be specifically implemented among licensed kinship caregivers, whereas parallel services should be provided to kinship caregivers regardless of their license status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamophobia and related incidents of hate-crimes, religious discrimination and profiling are increasingly being researched to have adverse effects on Muslim adults and children alike. Rising episodes of anti-Muslim religious bullying are being reported from schools, classrooms and playgrounds across the globe and, hence, need to be accounted for, recognized and mitigated. This study uses child-participatory research methodology to understand experiences of American Muslim children regarding Islamophobia. It was conducted with 26 children participants (N = 26) studying in Grades 5-8, at an Islamic School in the United States. Drawings and semi-structured focus group discussions were used for data collection. Findings revealed that Islamophobia should be characterized through a unique child-centric lens, to recognize how it affects the lives of Muslim children. Narratives and silences of female participants highlighted how gendered Islamophobia has become so common for young Muslim girls that it has become 'invisible.' It was seen that children's perception of Islamophobia often becomes a projection of parental influences. Participants put forward resilience techniques, which pave ways for social work interventions with Muslim children. The study ends with a school social work model directed towards prevention and reduction of Islamophobia, which educators, schools and social workers can implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the benefits of monthly family team meetings for parents involved with child welfare. Findings are shared from semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted with 17 parents whose children had been placed in substitute care. While much of the scholarship on family meetings focuses on opportunities for family voice, this study found that parents received multiple benefits from meetings including, but not limited to, the opportunity for input into decision-making. Specifically, parents appreciated receiving information and feedback, encouragement, and a range of other supports from members of the team. Meetings also facilitated communication and improved the coordination of services and other efforts by team members. Notably, parents reported that regular meetings helped to hold caseworkers and other providers accountable regarding their activities and duties related to the case, often resulting in better follow through. Parents and their advocates were also able to use meetings to push child welfare to respond in a timely way to parents' progress. These findings should be viewed as preliminary evidence of how a particular model of family meetings might work and thereby expand our understanding of what family team decision meetings can do to improve parents' experiences and child welfare outcomes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement need to be listened to and to receive help in understanding and dealing with their situation. A support programme for this group was developed in Australia and then adapted for use in a Swedish context and named 'Mamma Trots Allt' (MTA). The aim was to examine the experiences of these mothers regarding their mothering role after participation in MTA. An explorative and qualitative design was used. Inclusion criteria were mothers with cognitive limitations, a child in placement and participation in MTA. Nine mothers, eight of them from a previous study, gave their informed consent to participate. A study‐specific interview guide was adapted to people with cognitive limitations. The interviews took place after the final MTA session. The qualitative analyses resulted in a description of the mothers' experiences and how they changed after MTA, resulting in an overall theme, two subthemes, four categories and 11 subcategories. MTA facilitated the mothers' maturation and broadened their earlier, stereotypic life expectations. Offering a support programme benefits not only the mother but most likely the child as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring for children with disabilities (CWD) is a challenging task for families and service providers alike. Even though previous research has explored experiences and perceptions of families who care for CWD, research focusing on service providers' perceptions of such families is limited. Through the lens of a care framework, the present study aims to explore service providers' perceptions of families caring for CWD in resource‐poor settings in South Africa. Key informant interviews were conducted with managers of 10 organizations supported by the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. An inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that family structure, poverty, service inaccessibility, negative beliefs, and stigma by community members, in addition to parental substance abuse, influenced how families care for CWD in resource‐poor settings in South Africa. These findings have implications for policy amendments regarding the care dependency grant (CDG) to ensure that it benefits all CWD and not only those who need full‐time care and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Sweden, when needed, children of mothers with cognitive limitations are placed in foster homes. There is a lack of knowledge about the mothers with cognitive limitations, their experiences of their maternal role, whether they get the support needed to maintain the relationship with their children, and whether the support system is adapted to mothers with cognitive limitations. The aim was to describe the experiences of the maternal role and support given in mothers with cognitive limitations who have children in placement. An explorative and qualitative design was used. Eleven respondents were interviewed with support from a study‐specific guide. A model representing the respondents' experiences revealed one theme "Struggling, dependent and frustrated mothers," and three categories: I am a mother, I am dependent on an incomprehensible system, and I reluctantly accept my situation. Mothers with children in placement experience a threat to their identity and experience a need to alter their maternal role. They need adapted support to understand the decisions made and facilitate the cooperation with child protection services and the foster home. Offering service adapted to their cognitive limitations could be helpful for the struggling, dependent, and frustrated mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the predominant contemporary and traditional coping strategies adopted in Zimbabwe in the past three decades and beyond, challenges and issues related to inheritance continued to affect the livelihood of both orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caregivers. This article is a qualitative phenomenological study seeking to examine the perceptions, views, and feelings of the OVC and their caregivers on their lived experiences in OVC care and support in Zimbabwe. The study focusses on the caregivers' perspectives of the impact of the inheritance experiences in OVC care and support within their tribal local rural communities. In‐depth narrative interviews were conducted with 30 caregivers, corroborated with 10 OVC purposively sampled in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. The results showed that although the caregivers are doing their best in executing their strategies for OVC care and support, the manipulation and misappropriation of the inheritances from deceased parents or grandparents that were meant to benefit the OVCs are still widespread in the rural communities of Zimbabwe. In conclusion, the study recommends the need for an integrated stakeholders' approach in educating the local rural communities about their inheritance rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teenage parenting is a challenging venture—particularly when parenting while homeless. The present study explores in‐depth through case‐based analysis the lived experiences of three young homeless and parenting teens (one mother and two fathers). It is the first known study of teenage parenting and homelessness among Native Hawaiian youth, a key affected population. Interpretative phenomenological analysis of participants' individual interviews revealed three themes that characterize the experience of parenting as a teen while homeless: (a) They never raised me up (childhood experiences); (b) becoming mommy and daddy (early experiences of teen pregnancy and parenting while homeless); and (c) finding our place (current experiences of teen parenting and perspectives on teen pregnancy and homelessness). Implications for direct practice, social policy, and future research are discussed in the context of this complex reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School–community collaboration has become an important approach to enhancing the quality of services to meet the multifaceted needs of students. However, there is little understanding of how to create and maintain successful school–community collaboration. Drawing on a critical paradigm, this study developed a comprehensive framework for transformative school–community collaboration (TSCC) and developed a valid scale to assess the major dimensions of TSCC. Using school survey data, an exploratory factor analysis identified four multidimensional constructs: (a) critical member capacity representing members' organizing, interpersonal, and critical analysis skills, (b) equal relations with respect to joint membership, interaction, and outcome distribution, (c) democratic network governance measuring the basic elements of democracy in decision‐making, and (d) empowering coordination reflecting a responsive, flexible, and supportive coordination system. This study also showed that low‐income and urban schools reported significantly lower levels of equal relations and empowering coordination. The developed scale can be used as an evaluation tool that monitors and evaluates school–community collaboration ensuring equal, democratic, and empowering structures and processes. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest practice implications and future research agendas to create and maintain successful school–community collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge. This article draws from 69 in‐depth qualitative interviews with men, women, and workers across four men's behaviour change programmes in rural Victoria, Australia. Particular attention is given to men's attitudes to their fathering and the formal and informal consequences they experienced as a result of their violence and its impact on their fathering. Although most men came to recognize that their violence impacted their children, they failed to make the connection that the involvement of statutory child protection services in their lives was a direct consequence of their abusive behaviour. This article explores this disconnection by fathers who use violence, their attitude to the involvement of statutory child protection services, and identifies the implications for social work practitioners in addressing this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Matching children with foster carers is an important step in every nonkinship family foster care placement. Although guidelines for matching are provided in several studies, the case‐specific context of the decision can influence the practitioners' ability to adhere to these guidelines. Therefore, this study answers the following question: “How does the case‐specific context influence the practitioners' decision‐making process regarding matching in family foster care?” Using a qualitative design, 20 semistructured interviews were conducted with practitioners matching children with foster families. Three themes emerged representing different layers of practitioners' everyday decision‐making: matching as planned, matching being tailored, and matching being compromised. The results show that exceptions are part of practitioners' daily work, either due to the belief that it might benefit those involved or because of obstacles presented during the decision‐making process. When the decision is compromised, matching practitioners lower their standards, while at the same time safeguarding the quality of the match. This proves that matching in practice is more than choosing a family, and guidelines are needed to determine what “good‐enough” matching should entail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]