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

BARONE Lavinia, LIONETTI Francesca and GREEN Jonathan

A matter of attachment? How adoptive parents foster post-institutionalized children’s social and emotional adjustment

Attachment & Human Development 19(4), 2017, pp. 323–339

The current study investigates the contribution of children’s age at adoption (M = 46.52 months, SD = 11.52 months) and parents’ attachment on post-institutionalised children’s attachment and social–emotional adjustment. A total of 132 subjects (48 post-institutionalised children aged 3–5 years, and their adoptive parents) took part in the study. One year from adoption, children’s attachment distribution was as follows: 31% secure, 42% disorganised and 27% insecure. Parents’ secure attachment increased children’s probability of presenting a secure attachment pattern; specifically, mothers’ attachment patterns were most strongly associated with those of their adopted children, with fathers’ making an additional contribution. Two years from adoption, secure children showed more adequate social competences than their insecure and disorganised peers, and presented better emotional comprehension. The effect of age at adoption was delimited to a marginal association with behavioural problems. This pattern of associations suggests that attachment – both of adoptive parents and of children – substantially fosters the social-emotional adjustment of post-institutionalised children who have experienced a period in emotionally neglecting environments beyond their first year of life, regardless of their age at adoption. Implications for policies and practices are discussed.

Fostering

FOWLER Patrick J, MARCAL Katherine E, ZHANG Jinjin, et al.

Homelessness and aging out of foster care: a national comparison of child welfare-involved adolescents

Children and Youth Services Review 77(C), 2017, pp. 27–33

The present study represents the first large-scale, prospective comparison to test whether ageing out of foster care contributes to homelessness risk in emerging adulthood in the United States. A nationally representative sample of adolescents investigated by the child welfare system in 2008 to 2009, from the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being Study (NSCAW II), reported experiences of housing problems at 18- and 36-month follow-ups. Latent class analyses identified subtypes of housing problems, including literal homelessness, housing instability and stable housing. Regressions predicted subgroup membership based on ageing out experiences, receipt of foster care services and youth and county characteristics. Youth who reunified after out-of-home placement in adolescence exhibited the lowest probability of literal homelessness, while those who aged out experienced similar rates of literal homelessness as young people investigated by child welfare but never placed out of home. No differences existed between groups on prevalence of unstable housing. Exposure to independent living services and extended foster care did not relate with homelessness prevention. Findings emphasise the developmental importance of families in promoting housing stability in the transition to adulthood, while questioning child welfare’s current focus on preparing foster youth for independent living.

GOERING Emily Smith and SHAW Terry V

Foster care re-entry: a survival analysis assessing differences across permanency type

Child Abuse and Neglect 68, 2017, pp. 36–43

Foster care re-entry is an important factor for evaluating the overall success of permanency. Rates of re-entry are typically only measured for 12 months and are often evaluated only for children who exit foster care to reunification and not across exit types, also known as ‘permanency types’. This study examined the odds of re-entry across multiple common permanency types for a cohort of 8107 children who achieved permanency between 2009 and 2013. Overall, 14% of children re-entered care within 18 months with an average time to re-entry of 6.36 months. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to assess differences in re-entry across permanency types (including reunification, relative guardianship and non-relative guardianship). Children who achieved guardianship with kin had the lowest odds of re-entry overall, followed by guardianship with non-kin and reunification with family of origin. Children reunifying against the recommendations of Children and Family Services had the highest odds of re-entry. A Cox regression survival analysis was conducted to assess odds of re-entry across permanency type while controlling for demographics, services and other risk factors. In the final model, only permanency type and cumulative risk were found to have a statistically significant impact on odds of re-entry.

Other

CHANMUGAM Amy, MADDEN Elissa N, HANNA Michele D, et al.

Agency-related barriers experienced by families seeking to adopt from foster care

Adoption Quarterly 20(1), 2017, pp. 25–43

Although about 100,000 children in foster care await adoption, families approved to adopt encounter obstacles in the adoption process. This nationwide longitudinal study identified agency-related barriers faced by prospective adoptive parents. A purposively recruited sample of 300 families seeking to adopt from foster care completed an in-depth, semi-structured telephone interview and quarterly follow-up surveys until they either finalised a foster care adoption (n = 98) or discontinued (n = 102) the process, followed by an exit interview by telephone. Findings revealed that the top barriers encountered were adoption process logistics (n = 185, 92.5%), agency communication and responsiveness (n = 159, 79.5%), agency emotional support (n = 130, 65%), availability of services (n = 65, 32.5%), and jurisdictional and interjurisdictional issues (n = 52, 26%). Policy and practice implications are provided with recommendations for improving procedures, services, support and communication to better retain prospective adoptive parents and improve adoption outcomes.

GREY Ben and FARNFIELD Steve

The Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC) – the initial validation of a new procedure for assessing and understanding the parent–child relationships of ‘at risk’ families

Journal of Children’s Services 12(1), 2017, pp. 16–31

This article reports on the initial validation of a new method called the ‘Meaning of the Child Interview’ (MotC) to assess the psychological meaning all children have for their parents, but which in cases of risk, submerge or distort the child’s identity. The MotC analyses parental discourse using a method developed from the discourse analysis used to classify the Adult Attachment Interview, together with patterns derived from the infant CARE-Index, a procedure that evaluates face-to-face parent–child interaction. This allows the MotC to illuminate how the parent’s thinking influences the developing relationship between parent and child. Parents are interviewed using the Parent Development Interview (PDI), or an equivalent, and then the interview transcript is classified using the MotC system. The coding method was developed from interviews drawn from the first author’s work with children and families in the family court system, and then tested with a sample of 85 mothers and fathers, 62 of whom were parents drawn from an ‘at risk’ context. The parents were also videoed in a short free-play interaction, using the CARE-Index. The study found a strong correspondence between the levels of risk as assessed by the MotC patterns of parental representation of caregiving and the risk to the parent–child relationship observed using the CARE-Index. There was also corroboration of the patterns of interaction identified by the MotC. The results of the study provide good evidence for the Meaning of the Child as an identifiable construct, and as an assessment tool to identify and assess the nature of ‘at risk’ parent–child relationships. MotC was developed in a clinical setting within the Family Court justice system, and is designed to offer assistance to child protection and mental health practitioners deciding how to intervene in particular parent–child relationships.

HEGAR Rebecca L and SCANNAPIECO Maria

Foster care to kinship adoption: the road less traveled

Adoption Quarterly 20(1), 2017, 83–97

Although a rather extensive literature concerning informal kinship care and kinship foster care has emerged over the past 30 years, much less is known about the children and families involved in kinship adoption. This article pays particular attention to recent research that investigates placement decisions and outcomes for former foster children adopted by relatives. This review suggests conclusions similar to broader reviews, in that kinship placement tends to show some consistently favourable outcomes across a range of study populations and methods. Financial need may be the greatest concern for relatives who adopt. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 expands adoption subsidies and provides states with the option of supplying ongoing subsidies to certain relatives who take guardianship of family members from the foster care system. However, relative caregivers often are not well informed about financial supports afforded them by federal and state policies. Specialised programmes for kinship adoptive families are still limited. Much of the growth of kinship placement has been due to the absence of other placement options for many children and value-based decision-making that places a premium on kinship, rather than on evidence of the advantages of kinship adoption.

HILL Malcolm, WELCH Vicki and GADDA Andressa

Contested views of expertise in children’s care and permanence proceedings

Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 39(1), 2017, pp. 42–66

This article considers different perspectives on who is best able to provide relevant and helpful expertise in public law cases where the long-term care of children is under consideration. Opinions vary and sometimes conflict on the respective importance of legal, child development and lay understandings. These opinions relate to views on rights, appropriate procedures, decision-making processes and the effects of decisions on children. Firstly, the authors summarise literature relevant to the knowledge and skills of three key groups of decision-makers within the Scottish child care system: legal professionals, child care professionals and lay decision-makers, and outline literature about guardians ad litem and their counterparts. Issues of expertise emerging from a study exploring the reasons for, and impact of, the appointment of safeguarders (who, in Scotland, perform a similar role to guardians) are discussed. The authors conclude that there may be an increasing tendency for disagreement and a lack of clarity about who brings the most relevant and helpful expertise to hearings; this may have negative effects for children.

MACDONALD Geraldine, KELLY Grace P, HIGGINS Kathryn M and ROBINSON Clive

Mobile phones and contact arrangements for children living in care

British Journal of Social Work 47(3), 2017, pp. 828–845

This article reports the findings from the first UK study to examine the use of mobile phones by looked after children. Contact with family and friends is important, but sometimes it has to be carefully managed to avoid unintended consequences such as placement instability. The study examined the ways in which mobile phone technology affects contact, drawing on the experiences of children and young people in foster care and residential care, and of policy makers, social workers, foster parents and residential care staff. No guidance was available that addressed the issue of mobile phone contact arrangements for looked after children and young people. Three years on from the start of the study, this remains the case in the area where the study was conducted, resulting in variation in the way such contact is managed; the issue appears only to be specifically addressed when identified as a problem. The position of mobile phone facilitated contact as a recognised form of contact requires review. The evidence suggests it should routinely form part of children’s care plans, and that residential staff and foster parents need to be adequately prepared and supported for the dynamics involved.

STAINES Jo

Looked after children and youth justice: a response to recent reviews

Safer Communities 16(3), 2017, pp. 102–111

The purpose of this article is to provide a response to a recent government-commissioned review of residential care (Narey, 2016), and the subsequent government response (Department of Education (DfE), 2016), which minimises the correlation between the experience of being looked after and becoming involved in the youth justice system. The Narey review emphasises the role of early adversity in looked after children’s offending behaviour but minimises the significance of experiences during and after care, and downplays the effect of policies and practices that may exacerbate looked after children’s involvement in the youth justice system. The article builds upon a systematic literature review conducted for the Prison Reform Trust (Staines, 2016) to demonstrate the extent of current knowledge about how risk factors, adverse experiences during and after care and the criminalisation of looked after children combine to increase the likelihood of involvement in criminal proceedings. It also highlights gaps in the research evidence, particularly in relation to gender and ethnicity. The findings suggest that the Narey review (2016) and the government response are misguided in their attempts to minimise the role of care in looked after children’s disproportionate representation within the youth justice system. The author cautions against the over-simplification of a complex relationship and emphasises the importance of recognising the intersection between different factors.