Search

Abstract: This study addresses the relationship between children's participation and the protection and provision offered to them by social services in Sweden. It applies a theoretical framework for analysing child welfare that is anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. How child participation may affect child protection and provision is examined empirically using case documentation from 2 municipalities. The main finding is that when children are not given voice or opportunity to influence the framing of what “the problem” is, the design of protection and care tends to be poorly matched to the actual problems documented in the child investigation and vice versa; when children can influence framing, this is associated with well‐matched protection and care. This suggests that traditional child welfare ethos, to the effect that protection should be of such overriding concern that children even should be protected from participation, is misguided. The study further illustrates the intrinsic problems with the family orientation of Swedish social services and its reliance on partnership with parents, which makes it difficult to live up to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Incorporating child participation into existing service models can transform Swedish social services to an augmented child‐focused system that by ensuring participation also promotes protection and provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the Family Crisis Intervention Program ( FCIP), focusing on crisis, child safety, family functioning and child behaviour problems. Questionnaires were completed by 183 families in crisis and their FCIP worker. After FCIP, the crisis had decreased and child safety had increased. Although problematic family functioning persisted after intervention, improvements were found in parent-child interaction, parenting stress, parental competence and child behaviour problems. Crisis change, safety change and improved family functioning were associated with programme characteristics, especially the therapeutic relationship, analysis of the crisis situation, duration of the intervention and the solution-focused approach. The discussion addressed implications of this study with regard to outcome measures in the evaluation of family crisis intervention and the importance of particular programme characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to describe ways that successful culture-based Aboriginal preventive family service agencies offer employment and education opportunities for staff. Staff in three inner-city, culture-based Aboriginal family agencies were asked about their employment and educational opportunities. Forty-four individuals were asked the question: 'what employment and education opportunities have you had while in this job?' A total of 81 unique responses were received. Participants grouped the responses into eight themes including: planning for services, promotion within the agency, specific skill development, enhanced self-confidence, cultural awareness, teaching others, workshops as well as certified training. Differences between the experiences of study participants and the existing literature indicate that practices within culture-based Aboriginal family agencies are distinct in relation to funding, staff mobility, strengths-base, practical training and cultural knowledge, and that these should be understood and recognized formally in funding decisions and in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly-ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed by the Department of Social Welfare and thematically analysed. The study found that legislative provision normalizes nuclear family forms and runs counter to customary law. Social workers are shown to struggle with the ethical dilemmas the law poses without being able to resolve them in a manner consonant with Ghanian workers' code of practice. The study makes recommendations for social changes to policy, practice and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews with 207 informal kinship caregivers describe a dynamic process that influences how children come to live with a relative other than their parent. This process involves three overlapping and often simultaneously occurring factors: (1) the reasons the children's parents were unable to care for them; (2) the caregiver's motivation for assuming responsibility for the child; and (3) the pathways or routes that children took to the caregiver's home. Understanding these factors and their mutual and simultaneous influence is important as we shape policies, programs and interventions to support families as they consider whether to care for a relative's child and once they assume this responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in special needs adoption, there is growing concern about the adjustment of these children and families beyond legalization. The purpose of this study was to explore in greater depth the use of intensive family preservation services with adoptive families and the factors related to the family’s ability to stay intact beyond services. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine factors that were predictive of the family’s ability to remain intact at 6 and 12 months post services. Potential predictors of family intactness included child characteristics, family characteristics, previous placement history and service characteristics. Results at 6 months found no significance in the full model; however, the individual factors of ethnic origin of the child, full-time employment of the primary parent and initial placement reason were significant predictors of family intactness. At 12 months post services, the full model was highly significant, with service characteristics being the greatest predictor of the family’s ability to remain intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elements of attachment theory have been embraced by practitioners endeavouring to assist foster and adopted children and their parents. Attachment theory articulates the potential risks of experiencing multiple caregivers; emphasizes the importance of close social relationships to development; and recognizes that substitute parents may not always have close relationships with children who have experienced adversities before joining them. Attachment theory offers concerned parents what they believe to be a scientific explanation about their lack of the close, satisfying parent–child relationship they desire. Yet the scientific base of attachment theory is limited both in terms of its ability to predict future behaviours, and especially with regard to its use as the underpinning theory for therapeutic intervention with children experiencing conduct problems. There is a critical need to review the role of attachment theory in child and family services and to consider its place among other explanations for children's disturbing behaviour. An important step towards pursuing alternative approaches is for researchers and practitioners to understand the reasons the attachment paradigm appeals to so many adoptive and foster parents, given the apparent widespread prevalence of attachment-based interventions. Such understanding might assist in the development of adoption-sensitive uses of appropriate evidence-based treatment approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidisciplinary intervention approaches are needed for meeting service needs for families in which substance abuse and mental health disorders may be interfering with child-rearing. Experiences from the Starting Early Starting Smart (SESS) initiative, a 12-site national collaborative investigation of integrating behavioural health services in early childhood and primary health care service settings for children aged 0–5 years and their families and caregivers, are described. This 4-year applied research initiative was co-funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services and Casey Family Programs, a private operating foundation. SESS, which was developed and implemented in 12 geographically and culturally diverse cities in the USA during 1997–2001, encouraged federal, state, and local public/private partnerships. Opportunities and challenges in using an inclusive, consensus-based, stakeholder model to maximize study relevance and utility for researchers, practitioners, and fiscal sponsors are discussed, and lessons for multidisciplinary, multisite research collaborations are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, which has its origin in a feasibility study carried out for three youth telephone helplines, focuses on gender, difference and helpline access by young people. During the research process the writers noted that for the three commissioning helplines, as is the case with the majority of other telephone helplines, approximately two-thirds of callers are female. A helpline for young Muslims where the gender access ratio was 50/50 stood out as being different in this respect. Until recently, literature on gender and help-seeking has tended towards making a blanket identification of males as experiencing difficulties in negotiating pathways to help. Although this difficulty of males is evident in relation to both help-seeking and access to helplines, our study suggests that, at least in relation to helpline usage, when we take culture, ethnicity and sexuality into account, the help-seeking situation may be more nuanced. This has implications in terms of enabling a cross-section of young people to access helplines as well as with regard to helpline service development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years a variety of initiatives have been created with the aim of increasing the use of research in social care practice. This article reports findings from a one-year pilot research information service provided by the What Works for Children project. Taking note of the evidence from the research utilization literature, the service was set up to support social care practitioners in using research findings in their service-planning. An implementation officer worked with service-planners to identify areas where research could be helpful. Researchers provided responses to practitioners’ questions by searching for, critically appraising and summarizing the relevant literature. This article looks at the practicalities of running such a service and discusses its potential for influencing research use. The pilot underlines the importance of some of the obstacles to using research, some of which our service was able to overcome. The gap between what practitioners want from research and what research provides is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prescribed models of intensive family preservation services are based on assumptions regarding the contribution of service intensity, short-term duration of services and a home-based approach to positive outcomes for children and families. A descriptive and exploratory study tests these assumptions by examining the association of service structure characteristics to case outcomes: child placement, child safety, and gains in family skills and child well-being. This study finds that, while service intensity is indeed a predictor of short and long-term placement outcomes for families, families’ gains while in treatment (as rated by caseworkers) are even better predictors of placement outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research and child care legislation has brought about a change in emphasis in services for families where there is a child with disabilities. The multi-disciplinary approach, where different agencies and professionals work together to provide a holistic service, has become of paramount importance. This study reports the results of an evaluation of a multi-agency Children’s Centre which was attempting to put the rhetoric into practice. A multi-method research design, incorporating quantitative and qualitative techniques, was used. The main aim was to assess how far the Centre was carrying out an integrated approach in order to meet the needs of children and carers. The results indicate that while staff felt that there was still some way to go to provide a seamless service, the vast majority of parents felt that the Centre did meet its aims. While the reasons for these differences are explored, and the authors caution against complacency, the overall conclusion is that there is evidence that professionals can successfully work together in close proximity with one shared aim; and that such multi-agency centres work for families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]