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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]

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]

The participation of young people in care and treatment decisions is regarded as an essential element in effective decision-making and care. Although care and treatment in juvenile justice facilities is, in the first instance, based on a coercive placement (i.e. non-participatory decision-making), it is likely that participation is also essential for young offenders during their stay in care. In our study, we interviewed 24 care professionals working in two different juvenile justice facilities in the Netherlands. Professionals understand what participation entails (e.g. informing, listening to, taking views into account), and how and why they can use participation in everyday practice. Typically, they link issues such as safety and existing boundaries when talking about participation in a coercive context. Based on our findings, we present a conceptual model of factors that seem to influence a young person’s participation process. These findings indicate that there is a need for the structural incorporation of youth participation into juvenile justice facilities in such a way as to consider the needs and perspectives of both young people and professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is known that adolescents in secure residential care often show multiple behavior problems, it is largely unknown which dynamic risk factors are associated with their problems. The aim of the present study is to examine dynamic risk factors for 164 Dutch adolescents in secure residential care. Results show that a majority reports multiple risk factors in both an individual and contextual domain but that about a fifth shows relatively few risk factors. Substance abuse and delinquent friends were among the five most prevalent risk factors and predicted the seriousness of the adolescents’ delinquent behavior prior to admission. The four groups that were found by cluster analysis could be distinguished by problem type and seriousness. The findings indicate that treatment for some adolescents should be mainly focused on their individual needs, while other adolescents need intensive, multimodal treatment focusing on both risks in the individual, family, and peer domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a large difference in the number of young inhabitants in the Netherlands and Germany, their child protection frameworks are quite similar. In both countries, child protection services are mainly focused on youth aged 0 to 18 and regulations are aimed at clients' responsibility and their active involvement during care. Youth care services consist of community-based services, day treatment and out-of-home care services, which include foster care and residential care. The history of out-of-home care services in both countries is characterized by similar developments. Over the last four decades, similar trends in residential care, towards more small-scale forms of residential care, smaller residential group sizes, and increasing professionalization of staff have emerged. Over the last two decades, a comparable trend towards increasing professionalization can be seen in the context of foster care in both countries. In addition, the number of youths in out-of-home care increased in both countries over the last decade, specifically in foster care. Over the last decade, more studies have been conducted in residential care than in foster care in both countries. Despite similar trends and developments in out-of-home care practice, research mainly shows differences in applied topics and methods between Germany and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The client-therapist relationship is recognized as an important factor contributing to outcomes of child and youth care. Particularly in secure residential youth care, in which adolescents with mainly externalizing behaviour problems are often placed coercively, the client-staff relationship seems to be important for the achievement of positive outcomes. The present study aims to assess the client-staff relationship for a group of 135 adolescents in secure residential care and factors associated with a positive relationship. The results show that adolescents, group care workers and teachers experience a limited affective bond in their relationship 2 months after the adolescents were admitted to the secure care centre. Adolescents do tend to use care workers and teachers as a secure attachment figure, which suggests that an affective bond is no precondition for the adolescents to experience staff as a secure base. Main predictors of a good relationship are the positive treatment skills of both group care workers and teachers. These findings point to the need for training of care workers and teachers so that they are better prepared for working with these adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many adolescents who make the transition to adulthood experience problems after their departure from secure residential care. Research suggests that these young people are often in need of support after they have left secure care. Little is known about the experiences and perceptions of adolescents during and after this transition. The aim of this article is to assess these experiences for a group of 24 adolescents in the Netherlands that have left secure residential care. The results show, in line with previous studies, that many adolescents experience problems during their transition from secure care, especially with regard to finances, school and employment, and living arrangements. In contrast to other studies, a majority of the adolescents reports to have received support in the year following their departure. Relatively few adolescents move to independence after their departure, which suggests that many adolescents are not ready for making a true transition into adulthood yet. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]