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This paper explores discourses that have informed debates concerning care leavers in Romania over the last 50 years to understand why rights‐based reforms introduced in the mid‐2000s have been difficult to implement. The discussion is based on the analysis of a maximum variation sample of 40 documents published between 1951 and 2018. Across two historical periods during and after communism, framed by three political events which changed significantly the context of public childcare and leaving care, this paper explores how dominant discourses on 'public childcare', 'care leavers' and 'children's rights' have evolved, what mechanisms established them and with what consequences. The analysis revealed the stealthy presence of a 'dinosaur discourse' of deficit and 'undeserving', unsuccessfully challenged by the rights discourse, which alongside a neglectful attitude to social protection, informs the practice and ultimately the experience of public childcare and leaving care. However, the growing and increasingly clear voice of care‐leaver activists counterbalances this through a new narrative of strengths, value and capability aiming towards concrete change from below. The paper proposes a number of 'absent discourses' that could offer a powerful context for this new voice and avenues for meaningful action, with implications for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siblings are key actors in the social network of young people in care. This paper explores young people's perceptions of changes in the quality of sibling relationships and the pathways relationships follow during the transition from the biological family into care. A thematic analysis of interviews with young Norwegian people (n = 25) in care showed that, in the biological family, sibling relationships are characterized by alliances, parentification, conflicts or nonexistence. After admission to child welfare services care, sibling relationships developed along multiple pathways. Their sibling relationships reshaped into either close and supportive, conflictual or completely broken relationships. Sibling relationships were dynamic, complex, with the pathway, and its impact on well‐being, being unique to each young person. Sibling relationship quality in the biological home did not predict relationship quality after admission to child welfare services. The implications for social worker practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons for unintended placement disruptions in foster care. Based on a semistructured survey, the paper presents the views of 132 Norwegian foster parents who have experienced placement disruption between 2013 and 2015. Foster parents rated several relevant causes of placement disruption: the child's behaviour, the need for care, concern for the well‐being of their biological children, and lack of support from the Child Welfare Service (CWS). Although the child's behaviour was the cause most frequently reported in the quantitative data, CWS‐related factors such as poor collaboration, not being valued and listened to, insufficient support and follow‐up, and a mismatch between the child's needs and the foster carers' capacity were reported most frequently in the qualitative data. Placement disruption appears to be caused by the sum and interaction of several coexisting causes. It may not be the child's behaviour per se but rather the combination of challenging behaviour, concern for one's biological children, and insufficient support from CWS that lead to disruption. Good collaboration with the CWS in the form of respect, recognition, support, and follow‐up appears to be of the utmost importance in reducing the risk of placement disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the history of the rights movement of young people in care in England between 1973 and 2011. It describes the histories of the different groups that made up the movement during this 38‐year period: the Leeds Ad‐Lib group (1973–1975); Who Cares? (1975–1978); the National Association of Young People in Care (1979–1994); Black and In Care (1983–1985); and A National Voice (1998–2011). The narrative includes an analysis of contextual factors and the contribution of these groups in increasing awareness of leaving care policy and practice issues. The article concludes with a discussion of a young person's history of care, including recurring themes relating to young people's transitions to adulthood: their 'loss' of family; their disrupted lives in care; their experience of education; leaving care early; and their lack of support into adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how social support enhances family resilience in kinship foster families by involving the families in an educational group programme. Sixty‐two kinship foster families from Spain participated in the research. The data were collected before the programme (interviews) and after the programme (interviews and focus groups), and these were analysed by content analysis with the programme Atlas.ti. The results show that the factors that contribute most to the development of family resilience are as follows: (i) feeling able to look for solutions when facing problems; (ii) an increase of their network of formal support; (iii) being able to offer support to other foster families; and (iv) feeling that the support they give to parents' foster children is socially recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a commentary on the paper "Supporting Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Young People: The Experience of Foster Care" by Jim Wade. This commentary offers insights into the experiences of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and the role of foster carers in providing care for them. It also explains the importance of the relationship between young people and foster carers.