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Helping children and parents remain together, despite significant parent or child problems, is a key objective of child welfare services. One option is to place whole families together into out-of-home settings. We searched peer-reviewed and gray literature and solicited input from international networks to identify the range of family placement programs available. We identified three key types of "shared family care." Shared Family Foster Care (SFFC) involves sharing of care and intensive modeling of effective parenting by a host family that engages in mentoring of the parent and parenting of the child. Shared Residential Care (SRC) programs involve sharing of care and intensive modeling of effective parenting by professional staff as they engage parents and children in what had often been child-only residential programs. Family Residential Treatment Programs (FRT) also place parents and children in residence together. FRT programs are often aligned with inpatient treatment units. Active programs that illustrate each type are described. Through this typology and detailed information of currently active shared family care programs, policymakers and program designers can consider which kinds of programs have the most potential for implementation and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents in secure residential care mostly suffer from serious behavioural problems, often accompanied by trauma and adverse family circumstances. This paper presents findings of a comparison of behavioural problems and risk factors of 255 boys and girls (aged 12 to 18 years) in secure residential care in the Netherlands and their association with behavioural problems. A cross‐sectional design and standardized questionnaires were used to measure behavioural problems and individual and familial risk factors. By using independent‐sample t tests, the severity of these factors in boys and girls was compared, and by using structural equation modelling (SEM), associations between these factors and behavioural problems were investigated. The findings of the study show that post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, maladaptive emotion regulation, impaired perceived competence and internalizing behavioural problems were more severe in girls than in boys. Boys experienced more severe externalizing behavioural problems and more family problems than girls. Maladaptive emotion regulation, PTSD symptoms, perceived competence and parenting problems were related to behavioural problems. The results indicate that treatment for girls should address PTSD symptoms, perceived competence and maladaptive emotion regulation and that extra attention for family problems in the treatment of boys is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secure residential youth care facilities try to optimize their help by offering gender-specific treatment, in an attempt to achieve positive behavioral change in adolescents. In this study, we examined behavioral change in a sample of 239 Dutch adolescents (M age = 15.59 years, SD = 1.36 years, 54.9% girls) in secure residential care. Pretest, posttest and follow-up measurements were carried out for behavioral problems, PTSD symptoms, emotion regulation, perceived competence and family problems. Comparisons were made between girls in gender-specific care, and girls and boys in regular care. Missing data analyses revealed the dataset contained many missing values. Analyses were performed at group level, using MANCOVA, ANCOVA's and bootstrapped planned contrast, and at case level, using the Reliable Change Index. At group level, results revealed higher effectiveness of gender-specific care for girls compared to regular care for girls, only in diminishing externalizing behavioral problems. Overall, there were more similarities than differences in the effectiveness of gender-specific versus regular help. At individual level, 0–58% of the adolescents improved during their stay in secure residential care. However, most adolescents showed no change (25–88%) or even deterioration (0–39%). These results strongly emphasize the need for alternative interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although parental problems and poor parenting are commonly associated with adolescents' admission to secure residential care, few studies examined these parental characteristics. This study aims to identify parental problems and strengths and their association with parenting styles for 64 of these parents. We assessed perspectives of both adolescents and their parent figures shortly after admission. Parents often report high levels of psychopathology for both mothers and fathers, respectively, including depression (54.7% and 39.1%), anxiety (29.7% and 12.5%), substance dependence (14.1% and 26.6%), antisocial behaviour (1.6% and 21.1%), and psychosis (11.0% and 9.4%). Parents also report high parenting stress specifically related to the behaviour of their child. In contrast to our expectations, most parents experience a high quality of life. Living in a 1‐parent family, being unemployed and having debts are most frequently mentioned risk factor combinations. We found limited support for the hypothesis that parents with more risk and less protective factors show poorer parenting. Parents with more psychopathology and parenting stress do show poorer parenting than parents without these problems. Based on our findings, we describe several implications for engaging and supporting parents of adolescents in secure residential care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]