Abstracts

Adoption & Fostering abstracts are selected by Miranda Davies in collaboration with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), London. Although care is always taken to be as exact as possible, the editors cannot guarantee the accuracy of material received from outside sources.

Adoption

ANTHONY Rebecca, MEAKINGS Sarah, DOUGHTY Julie, OTTAWAY Heather, HOLLAND Sally and SHELTON Katherine H

Factors affecting adoption in Wales: predictors of variation in time between entry to care and adoptive placement

Children and Youth Services Review 67, 2016, pp. 184‒190

In the UK, there has been an increasing emphasis in recent years on reducing the delay in making permanent placements for children. Adoption is one such plan for permanence. This study examined those factors that predicted a lengthier care episode for children recently placed for adoption. The data were drawn from the Wales Adoption Study which scrutinised all children placed for adoption. This mixed methods study analysed information from the adoption reports of all children placed for adoption over a 13-month period during 2014 and 2015 (n = 374). Children were aged between 0 months and 6.5 years on entry into care. On average, the time between entering care and moving into an adoptive placement was 528 days. The results of the regression analysis showed that four child-related factors were associated with a longer wait in care before being placed for adoption: developmental delay; externalising behaviour; serious and enduring health problems/disability; and exposure to domestic violence. The procedural factors examined showed no association with length of time to placement. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.

GUPTA Anna and LLOYD-JONES Edward

Re B-S: a glass half full? An exploration of the implications of the Re B-S judgment on practice in the family courts

Child & Family Social Work 21(4), 2016, pp. 539‒547

The family courts in England and Wales are being significantly reformed in line with the former coalition government's aim to speed up the process and increase the numbers of children being adopted from care. In September 2013, the Court of Appeal handed down a judgment, Re B-S (Children) [2013] EWCA Civ 1146, that has wide-ranging implications for professional practice and decision-making in care proceedings. The judgment challenges the policy direction and provides guidance about what is required before courts can make orders separating children from their birth families, particularly in cases of non-consensual adoption. This article outlines the changes occurring in the family justice system, some key elements of Re B-S and examines the challenges for implementing practice consistent with the requirements of Re B-S. It is argued that the standards set by Re B-S are unlikely to be fully implemented without much further attention to the complexities posed by the policy and practice context of social work with children and their families involved in care proceedings.

O’NEIL Denise, MCAULEY Colette and LOUGHRAN Hilda

Post-adoption reunion sibling relationships: factors facilitating and hindering the development of sensitive relationships following reunion in adulthood

Child & Family Social Work 21(2), 2016, pp. 218‒227

This article explores findings from a study on sibling relationships following adoption reunion in adulthood. The qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 33 adopted adults who were reunited with their birth sibling(s) through an adoption agency in the Republic of Ireland. The findings throw light upon the development of the emotional, often complex relationships that may emerge when siblings meet for the first time in adult life. Factors influential in facilitating or hindering these post-reunion relationships are discussed. The important insights are then considered in the context of the wider international literature on adoption, search and reunion.

Fostering

KIRTON Derek

(In)Sufficient? Ethnicity and foster care in English local authorities

Child & Family Social Work 21(4), 2016, pp. 492‒501

This article examines the place of ethnicity in local authority foster care in the context of the sufficiency duty to secure adequate local placements for looked after children. The analysis draws on two main sources: the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED’s) annual survey of fostering agencies and inspection reports for around half the local authority fostering services in England. Sufficiency is gauged in two main ways, comparing numbers of black and minority ethnic (BME) foster carers first with numbers of BME looked after children and second, with local adult (age 25–64) populations. Statistical analysis shows very wide variation on both measures and a significant minority of authorities that perform poorly in terms of the ethnic diversity of their foster carers. Inspection reports also vary widely in the degree and nature of attention given to issues of ethnicity with many offering limited (and sometimes no) challenge to poor performance. These findings are discussed within the broader context of recent trends towards de-emphasising the significance of ethnicity in child welfare.

MAASKANT Anne M, FLOOR B van Rooij, HENNY MW Bos and JO MA Hermanns

The wellbeing of foster children and their relationship with foster parents and biological parents: a child’s perspective

Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community 30(4), 2016, pp. 379‒395

Most Dutch foster children live permanently in foster families. It is often assumed that foster children have ambivalent loyalties and attachments to their birth parents and foster parents and are torn between the two. In this study, 59 children between 10 and 18 years placed in long-term foster care completed standardised questionnaires on the relationship with their foster parents and their well-being. Results show that, on average, foster children have positive feelings of loyalty and attachment towards both their foster and biological parents. However, their well-being appeared mainly related to stronger attachment representations towards their foster parents. The authors found no indications of a competing position of biological and foster parents from the perspective of the child. Nevertheless, foster children who see one set of parents as more vulnerable, or experience stronger normative boundaries, feel worse compared to children who experience such feelings less.

NORDENFORS Monica

Children’s participation in foster care placements

European Journal of Social Work 19(6), 2016, pp. 856‒870

This article presents results from a study of the birth children of foster carers and their experiences of growing up with foster siblings. Data were gathered from focus groups (17 participants), discussion groups (16 participants), a questionnaire (684 responses) and eight individual interviews. The focus is children’s participation in the fostering placements. Accounts from the children show that several of them participate in caregiving activities in everyday life. Their participation in the official assignment is, however, limited and can lead to children taking on responsibility with no support from adults. The tension between children’s agency and position in society is addressed. The study shows how power relations between children and adults come into play, how both children and adults (re)-produce positions where children’s rights to have a say in questions that concern them are not reflected within fostering processes.

PERKINS Nathan H and STOLL Addaline J

Practical considerations of physical and emotional sibling violence in foster families: a summary of the current literature

Journal of Family Social Work 19(5), 2016, pp. 407‒419

The authors draw upon current literature and case examples to enrich the understanding of physical and emotional sibling violence in foster families. A brief overview of physical and emotional sibling violence is presented, followed by a discussion of the interventions that address sibling conflict and aggression. The lack of knowledge regarding sibling violence for different kinds of sibling combinations is highlighted. The authors stress the potential for negative interactions among children in foster families and the need to alter approaches to include all sibling combinations.

ROBERTS Louise

Using part-time fostering as a family support service: advantages, challenges and contradictions

British Journal of Social Work 46(7), 2016, pp. 2120‒2136

This article examines the use of part-time fostering as a means to support families with social care support needs. It is based on a qualitative case study of the support care service. Support care is a supportive intervention for families at risk of breakdown and long-term separation. The service attempts to forge positive relationships with parents and provides short breaks for children and young people. It aims to be flexible and responsive to individual needs, but is time-limited, with typical intervention periods lasting between 6 and 12 months. Three support care schemes participated in the research and 10 placements were followed for their duration. Eighty-two individual interviews were conducted and data were collected from 22 participant observation sessions. The aim of the research was to examine the ‘doing’ of support care. This included exploring stakeholder experiences, the aims and outcomes associated with the service, together with attempts to facilitate family change. The article considers the advantages and contradictions inherent in this form of family support. Key aspects are related to broader considerations of family support services including the effectiveness of time-limited interventions and competing social work demands to support families as well as safeguard children.

ROCHE Steven and NOBLE-CARR Debbie

Agency and its constraints among biological children of foster carers

Australian Social Work 70(1), 2017, pp. 66‒77

There is currently limited understanding of foster carers’ biological children and their experiences of foster care placements. This article presents findings from focus groups with biological children that shed light on their perspectives and experiences. Findings indicate biological children are competent social actors who contribute to, and seek to influence, the care environment in their homes. However, due to a lack of recognition, information, and support, their agency is constrained and their challenges exacerbated. The authors argue for increased recognition, information and support for biological children, advocating for a ‘whole-of-family’ approach to foster care practice and policy.

Other

McSHERRY Dominic, MALET Montserrat Fargas and WEATHERALL Kerrylee

Comparing long-term placements for young children in care: Does placement type really matter?

Children and Youth Services Review 69, 2016, pp. 56‒66

This article presents findings from the third phase of the longitudinal study Care Pathways and Outcomes, which has been tracking the placements and measuring outcomes for a population of children (n = 374) who were under the age of five and in care in Northern Ireland on 31 March 2000. It explores how a sub-sample of these children at age 9 to 14 years were getting on in the placements provided for them, in comparative terms across five placement types: adoption; foster care; kinship foster care (with relatives); on residence order; and living with birth parents. This specifically focused on the development of attachment and self-concept from the perspective of the children, and behavioural and emotional function, and parenting stress, from the perspective of parents and carers. Findings showed no significant placement effect from the perspective of children, and a statistically weak, but descriptively compelling, effect from the perspective of parents. The findings challenge the notion of adoption as the gold standard in long-term placements, specifically from the perspective of children in terms of their parent/carer attachments and self-concept, and highlight what appears to be the central importance of placement longevity for delivering positive longer-term outcomes for these children, irrespective of placement type.