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

CODY Patricia A, FARR Rachel H, MCROY Ruth G, et al.

Youth perspectives on being adopted from foster care by lesbian and gay parents: implications for families and adoption professionals

Adoption Quarterly 20(1), 2017, pp. 98–118

This article presents findings from a qualitative study on the perspectives of youth who were adopted from the US foster care system by lesbian and gay parents and includes focus group and survey data. The study fills a unique gap in the literature by hearing directly from the youth through focus groups. Findings indicated that children use a variety of strategies for sharing or not sharing that their parents are gay or lesbian and that many experience bullying and teasing that may be different than that experienced by other children. The children adopted by lesbian and gay parents often perceive themselves as being more accepting of others, having more understanding of people, and being more compassionate towards people than those not so raised. Suggestions are provided for training adoption professionals and prospective families about the challenges and benefits for youth adopted by lesbian and gay parents.

THOMAS Lindsey J and SCHARP Kristina M

‘A family for every child’: discursive constructions of ‘ideal’ adoptive families in online foster adoption photolistings that promote adoption of children from foster care

Adoption Quarterly 20(1) 2017, pp. 44–64

Despite documented cultural and institutional preferences for biological family ties, approximately 100,000 children await adoption in the US foster care system. Child welfare professionals have the important task of finding these children permanent families, yet little is known about this process or how ‘ideal’ adoptive families are constructed. Thus, this study critically examines photolistings (n = 104) from www.afamilyforeverychild.org. Findings indicate that discursive constructions of ‘forever family’, based on chosen family structure and familial performance, counter biology-based understandings of family. Practical applications that might open untapped opportunities to connect children with permanent families are discussed.

Fostering

APARICIO Elizabeth M

‘I want to be better than you’: lived experiences of intergenerational child maltreatment prevention among teenage mothers in and beyond foster care

Child & Family Social Work 22(2), 2017, pp. 607–616

The growing body of research on teenage motherhood in foster care has largely focused on the risks involved for both mother and child, yet these mothers depict a much more complex picture of their own experience of becoming and being mothers. The current study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore 18 in-depth, qualitative interviews from six participants on the meaning and experience of motherhood among teenage mothers in foster care and in the years immediately after ageing out. This study focused on a particular dimension of motherhood: participants' efforts to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect with their own children. Two themes emerged as characteristic of these experiences: (i) treating children well/parenting differently and avoiding the system; and (ii) reducing isolation and enhancing support. Given the increased likelihood of the children of teen mothers – particularly those who have been maltreated – becoming involved with the child welfare system, study findings suggest possible strategies for disrupting cycles of intergenerational child welfare involvement generated by young mothers themselves. Practice implications for addressing possible substance abuse, mental health and relational and parenting needs are discussed.

VASILEVA Mira and PETERMANN Franz

Mental health needs and therapeutic service utilization of young children in foster care in Germany

Children and Youth Services Review 75, 2017, pp. 69–76

Although children in foster care often need therapeutic help, the ways to initiate therapeutic services for them is not regulated in Germany. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to identify factors associated with therapeutic service utilisation in young children in foster care in Germany. Additionally, it explores predictors of foster parents’ perceived need for therapeutic help for the child. Foster parents of 286 children aged 3–7 years completed questionnaires about children’s mental health, child and placement characteristics. Logistic regression models tested the impact of these factors on therapeutic service utilisation and foster parents’ perceived need for child therapy separately for children with and without potentially traumatic experiences. Approximately 62% of the sample had some mental health problems; around 37% of these children received no treatment. Placement disruptions and cases where the child welfare services had the custodial rights predicted higher therapeutic service utilisation. Foster parents’ stress was associated with perceived need for help. Children’s symptoms – especially externalising problems – also predicted both outcomes. The findings indicate the need for strategies to increase therapeutic service utilisation in young children in foster care on caregiver, system and legislative levels. Such strategies should target routine assessment of children’s mental health as well as interventions on foster family characteristics.

Unaccompanied children

CREA Thomas M, et al.

Unaccompanied migrant children in the United States: predictors of placement stability in long term foster care

Children and Youth Services Review 73, 2017, pp. 93–99

Tens of thousands of unaccompanied children have migrated to the United States in recent years, particularly from Central America, but also from a range of other countries. These children are fleeing unprecedented levels of violence in their home countries, and often are seeking reunification with parents and family members (i.e. sponsors). Some children are not able to live with a sponsor and they are placed in federally funded foster care. Yet, virtually nothing is known about how these children fare during placement. Literature related to domestic child welfare has demonstrated the importance of placement stability to children’s future well-being. Using an exploratory design, the purpose of this study is to examine the placement stability of unaccompanied youth while in long term foster care from 2012 to 2015, and how pre-migration, transit and post-placement risk factors are each associated with placement changes for these children (n = 256). Results show that experiencing violence in home countries and significantly acting out while in care were associated with a higher likelihood of changing placements. Migration-related trauma was not significant, but fear of returning to home countries, and suffering trauma unrelated to migration, were both associated with a lower likelihood of changing placements. Children from Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) were more likely to have experienced a failed family reunification prior to entering foster care. These results are discussed in light of the need to adopt a global perspective in child welfare that interprets children's behaviour in the larger context of pre-migration experiences and culture.

KALVERBOER Margrite, ZIJLSTRA Elianne and VAN OS Carla, et al.

Unaccompanied minors in the Netherlands and the care facility in which they flourish best

Child & Family Social Work 22(2), 2017, pp. 587–596

This study compares the views of unaccompanied minors living in four different types of care facilities in the Netherlands — foster care, small living units, children's living groups and campuses — on their well-being, living circumstances and place in Dutch society. Interviews with 132 minors were both qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. Based on the transcripts from the interviews, the researchers completed a questionnaire (BIC-Q) to judge the quality of the child rearing environment in the different types of care facilities. Minors in foster care fare best and are most positive about their place in Dutch society. Minors in small living units and small living groups often miss affectionate bonds, care, support and stability in their lives. Minors in campuses most often expressed feeling lonely and sad and being excluded from Dutch society. They experience a lack of care and support from adults. The quality of the child rearing environment in campuses was judged by the researchers as being so low that these facilities appear to be unfit for these young people.

Other

CONNOLLY Marie, KIRALY M, MCCRAE Lynne and MITCHELL Gaye

A kinship care practice framework: using a life course approach

British Journal of Social Work 47(1), 2017, pp. 87—105.

In recent years, kinship care has become a major contributor to the delivery of out-of-home care services in most western jurisdictions. Over time, statutory kinship care has been modelled on the more established foster care system. Yet the particular nature of kinship care differs from stranger care arrangements in important ways. This often results in kinship carers and their children being disadvantaged and poorly responded to within foster care dominated systems. This article discusses the development of a kinship care practice framework that responds to the particular needs of kith and kin carers and the children they care for within statutory systems of care, and which also takes into account the particular complexities of kinship care practice. Recognising that kinship carers come to the role at different ages, from siblings, aunts and uncles, as well as grandparents, the framework takes a life course approach that responds to both the generic and age-specific needs of the carer. Life course issues and challenges are considered across four domains supporting practice that is: child-centred; relationship-supportive; family and culturally responsive; and system-focused.

GILLIGAN Robbie and ARNAU-SABATES Laura

The role of carers in supporting the progress of care leavers in the world of work

Child & Family Social Work 22(2), 2017, pp.792—800

The aim of this component of a preliminary cross-national study (Ireland and Catalonia) of care leavers’ experience in the world of work is to explore how carers may influence the entry of young people in care into the world of work and how they may also influence their progress in that world. A total of 22 care leavers, aged 23–33 years, were recruited on the basis of their having substantial employment experience since leaving care. Evidence from the interviews reveals the importance of the role of carers in the work-related progression of the young care leavers, especially in relation to gaining work experience while they were still in care. The qualitative analysis shows that carers were influential in promoting (and sometimes hindering) progress in work and education. Carers were often reported to play an important role in opening up opportunities, giving support (modelling skill development, giving practical help, etc.), being role models and cultivating the young person's agency. On the basis of these findings, the authors propose an initial conceptualisation of carer roles in positive work support.

PERT Hayley, DIAZ Clive and THOMAS Nigel

Children’s participation in LAC reviews: a study in one English local authority

Child & Family Social Work 22(S2), 2017, pp. 1—10

Although the law in England and Wales requires a child’s wishes and feelings to be heard in LAC (Looked After Children) reviews, there remains limited research into how far this is achieved. This study interviewed 25 children and 16 foster carers to explore how well children understand and take part in reviews, and what factors impede this. The study found that levels of participation, as experienced by children and foster carers, were very low and the methods used were relatively ineffective. Children experienced significant barriers in engaging with the review process. The article concludes that as a vehicle of children’s participation, LAC reviews are still not working well and calls for more attention to the views of children and young people and to the effectiveness of LAC reviews.

SCHOFIELD Gillian, LARSSON Birgit and WARD Emma

Risk, resilience and identity construction in the life narratives of young people leaving residential care

Child & Family Social Work 22(2), 2017, pp. 782—791

The role of residential care for children has developed very differently internationally, but in all cultural contexts there are questions about the extent to which it can help young people recover from high-risk backgrounds. In the UK, residential care has come to be seen as the placement of last resort, yet new government guidance on permanence has suggested that residential care can provide security and a sense of belonging. Narrative analysis of interviews with 20 care leavers identified their different pathways from birth families through residential care to early adulthood. Some experienced a transformation from a negative sense of self as victims or ‘bad children’ to survivors, while others continued to struggle. Key to successful turning points were four interacting factors, all associated with resilience: connection, agency, activity and coherence. These narratives revealed the importance of nurturing relationships and a sense of ‘family’, and also the role of support after leaving residential care, when transitions workers helped them to move on but stay connected. The study highlighted how residential care leavers from adverse backgrounds attribute very different meanings to their experiences, which affects identity construction, resilience and the need for support.