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Corporate parenting in a pandemic: considering the delivery and receipt of support to care leavers in Wales during Covid-19
- Authors:
- ROBERTS Louise, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 128, 2021, p.106155.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This paper considers the support available to care leavers during the Covid-19 pandemic from their corporate parents. The paper contributes to a developing evidence base concerned with social work efforts to adapt and maintain support provision during the unprecedented circumstances, and provides insight into how such support was perceived and experienced. Funded by Voices from Care Cymru and Cardiff University, a qualitative, mixed method study was conducted which included a survey of Welsh Local Authority professionals (n = 22) and interviews with Welsh care-experienced young people aged 17–24 (n = 17). The findings of this paper show the propensity of corporate parents to provide protection against the adversities of the pandemic, or to compound difficulties. While some young people reported being both practically and emotionally supported, for others corporate parenting support was perceived as unavailable, unhelpful and / or uncaring. The Covid-19 pandemic provides a unique lens to consider the strengths, flaws and future opportunities for corporate parenting. The findings emphasise the need for parity of support for young people leaving care and consideration of national, local and individual responses is included. Yet consistent with findings pre-dating the pandemic, the findings reaffirm the enduring importance of both relationships and resources in ensuring good support for care leavers. (Edited publisher abstract)
Qualitative process evaluation of the Fostering Changes program for foster carers as part of the Confidence in Care randomized controlled trial
- Authors:
- CHANNON Susan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 109, 2020, p.104768.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Fostering Changes is an in-service training program for foster carers designed to enhance carer skills, coping strategies and carer-child relationships. The training program has been evaluated in a randomised controlled trial comparing Fostering Changes to usual care. Objective: To conduct a qualitative process evaluation drawing on stakeholder perspectives to describe the logic model of Fostering Changes, identify potential mechanisms of impact of the program and enhance understanding of the trial results. Participants and setting: Participants were stakeholders in the Fostering Changes program delivered in Wales, UK including foster carers invited to attend the program (18 attendees, eight non-attendees), two program developers, five trainers, 12 social workers who attended or recruited to the program. Methods: Total population sampling with qualitative data collection methods. Qualitative data were subject to thematic analysis. Results: A logic model summarising the program resources, activities and anticipated outcomes was generated. Implementation themes were quality of training, setting and group composition. Mechanisms of impact were identified with themes falling into two categories, group process and skills development. Potential barriers to effectiveness included a poor fit between the carer needs and the program in relation to levels of challenge being faced, age-appropriate content and responsiveness. Contextual factors were also relevant, including the existing relationship between foster carers and the agency and the perceived value of training. Conclusions: Although the group aspects of the program were well received, the program itself did not help foster carers deal with more complex challenges and needed to be more targeted in terms of carers needs and circumstances. (Edited publisher abstract)
A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of the fostering changes programme
- Authors:
- MOODY Gwenlliam, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 108, 2020, p.104646.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Many looked after young people in Wales are cared for by foster or kinship carers, usually as a consequence of maltreatment or developmentally traumatising experiences within a family context. Confidence in Care is a pragmatic unblinded individually randomised controlled parallel group trial evaluating a training programme to improve foster carer self-efficacy, when compared to usual care. Objective: To determine whether group-based training improves foster carer self-efficacy. Participants and setting: Participants are foster carers, currently looking after children aged 2+ years for at least 12 weeks. Carers from households where one or more carer had previously attended the training were not eligible. Sixteen local authorities and three independent fostering providers in Wales took part. Methods: The primary outcome measure was the Carer Efficacy Questionnaire assessed at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Quality of Attachment Questionnaire, Carer Defined Problems Scale, Carer Coping Strategies, placement moves. Results: 312 consented foster carers were allocated to FC (n = 204) or usual care (n = 108) group. 65.3 % of FC group participants attended sufficient training sessions (8/12, including sessions three and four). There were no differences in carer-reported self-efficacy at 12 months (adjusted difference in means (95 % CI): -0.19 (-1.38 to 1.00)). Small differences in carer-reported child behaviour difficulties and carer coping strategies over time favoured the intervention but these effects diminished from three to 12 months. No other intervention effects were observed. Conclusions: Although well-received by participants, training was associated with small and mostly short-term benefit for trial secondary outcomes. (Publisher abstract)
Young parents’ experiences of a multi-agency young families project: findings from a co-produced study
- Author:
- DARRA Susanne
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 2020, p.105146.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Young families, in which the parents are aged 16–24, require support in order to reduce health and social inequalities for themselves and their children. It is even more vital for young parents who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Health organisations, policy makers and heath care professionals often recommend that this support is best started before the birth of the children. An early intervention multi-agency project aimed at providing such support and offsetting social inequalities was initiated in a coastal city in Wales, UK. This paper reports on one phase of a year-long mixed methods study into the work of the multi-agency project (the pseudonym for the project, for the purposes of this paper is ‘MAP’). We draw on findings from four Focus Groups and participant observation with services users (n-18) and analyse their experiences of being involved in MAP. This phase of a wider study was co-produced as it was devised and overseen by a research development and delivery group including staff members, service users and the research team. The role of the group was to devise the research study, to monitor its progress and to contribute to the analysis of the data. Data were analysed thematically and the findings demonstrated that the staff helped the young people in various ways, for example learning parenting skills. However, in addition to the skills that MAP staff helped service users to develop, we suggest that other previously unintended aims proved to be of great value. These included building friendships, improving mental health and gaining access to financial support. In this paper we argue that MAP was therefore found to be beneficial in expected and unexpected ways, due to the efforts and working relationships of the multi-agency staff and the services they offered. We suggest that this form of multi-disciplinary working serves to challenge health and social inequalities experiences by young parents. We advocate further development of similar services. (Edited publisher abstract)
A cross-cultural exploration of children’s perceptions of wellbeing: understanding protective and risk factors
- Authors:
- SABOLOVA Klara, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 2020, p.104771.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
There is a growing body of literature on children’s wellbeing. However, historically, focus has been on adults’ perspectives, leading to adult-centric views of wellbeing. Although recent years have witnessed an increase in researchers eliciting children’s perspectives, it is not clear whether children's perceptions of wellbeing are universal, or whether they are culturally distinct. This study sought to explore children’s perceptions of wellbeing across Wales and the Czech Republic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 children aged 9–12 years and analysed via thematic analysis. The results revealed similarities in the perceptions of children in Wales and Czech Republic, with children in both cultures drawing on risk and protective factors that children believe impacts on their wellbeing. Risk factors include disrupted family relationships, peer difficulties, and anxiety, while protective factors include positive parent-child relationships, meaningful friendships, and effective coping strategies. This paper suggests that warm parent-child and child-peer interactions contribute to children’s positive socioemotional functioning. (Publisher abstract)
When young people in and leaving state care become parents: what happens and why?
- Authors:
- ROBERTS Louise, MAXWELL Nina, ELLIOTT Martin
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 104, 2019, p.104387.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This paper is concerned with outcomes for young parents in and leaving care and draws on findings from a post-doctoral fellowship study conducted within the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at Cardiff University. Over the course of the research, 258 parents in and leaving care were identified aged between 16 and 21 were identified by 20 out of the 22 local authorities in Wales. These parents had a total of 238 children and there were 44 on-going pregnancies. 74% of children were living with at least one biological parent, however 26% of children identified in the study were separated from their parents at the time of data collection; 10% of children were in the care of local authority carers, 9% with adoptive carers and a further 7% living with friends and family. Interviews with social care professionals suggested that success in parenthood is possible for young people in and leaving care if they are prepared to do ‘whatever is required’. Typically, this meant engaging with professionals, evidencing personal responsibility and demonstrating a commitment to positive parenting. Yet despite such emphasis on individual choice and determination, a wide range of support needs were identified by professionals and it was acknowledged that young people had limited control over key factors influencing parenting success. (Edited publisher abstract)
Repeat missing child reports in Wales
- Authors:
- HUTCHINGS Emma, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 88, 2019, pp.107-117.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: There were approximately 306,000 reports of missing persons in the UK from 2012 to 2013, 64% involved children. Repeat missing incidents account for approximately 38% of reported missing incidences. Within their research Biehal et al. (2003) identified that 70% of missing children had voluntarily left their home and the majority of these were considered to have 'run away'. Research suggests that there is heavy demand on public services in responding to children that are regularly reported missing. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore data recorded in respect of children reported missing as a result of running away. The main objective of this study was to develop a set of risk factors to predict repeat missing incidences using a logistic regression method. Participants and setting: This study explored the characteristics of 523 children who were reported missing to Gwent (Wales) Police as a result of running away. Methods: Using data collected by the Gwent Missing Children's Team in Wales, over a one-year period, this study compared two groups of children: 275 (53%) who were reported missing once ('low risk') and 248 (47%) who were reported more than once ('high risk'). Results: Results indicated that five significant risk factors identified by logistic regression could distinguish outcome in 73% of cases. The five risk factors were; looked after children, substance use, suspected sexual exploitation, known to Youth Offending Services and a history of abuse/neglect. Conclusions: These risk factors could potentially be used in Gwent to guide intervention strategies, with those children identified as 'high risk' of repeat missing incidents requiring more comprehensive intervention and support. (Edited publisher abstract)
Examining rates and risk factors for post-order adoption disruption in England and Wales through survival analyses
- Authors:
- WIJEDASA Dinithi, SELWYN Julie
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 83, 2017, pp.179-189.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Purpose: This paper reports findings from two research studies that set out to calculate the rate and predictors of post-order adoption disruption in England and Wales. Methods: All available national level administrative data on adopted children in England and Wales were analysed, supplemented by national surveys adoption managers. Complete national datasets were available 12 years in England and for 11 years in Wales. Results: Of the 36,749 and 2,317 adoptions considered, 565 in England and 35 in Wales had disrupted over the follow up period. Kaplan-Meier analyses indicate that cumulative post-order adoption disruption rates were 3.2% and 2.6% respectively for England and Wales. Cox regression models indicate that being older than four years adoptive placement, adoptive parents taking longer than a year to legalise the adoption, being a teenager and previous multiple placements in care were risk factors for post-order adoption disruption. Conclusion: The post order adoption disruption rate is low. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Factors affecting adoption in Wales: predictors of variation in time between entry to care and adoptive placement
- Authors:
- ANTHONY Rebecca, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 67, 2016, pp.184-190.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
In the UK, there has been an increasing emphasis in recent years on reducing the delay in making permanent placements for children who cannot remain living with their birth parents. Adoption is one such plan for permanence. This study examined those factors that predicted a lengthier care episode for a national sample of children recently placed for adoption. The data was drawn from the Wales Adoption Study. This is a mixed methods study that 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 1/2 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. These were developmental delay, externalizing 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 findings from this study make a substantial contribution to further developing what is known about the timeliness of adoption within the current UK context. The implications for policy and practice are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Meeting children's needs within a family focussed agenda: the case of support care
- Author:
- ROBERTS Louise
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 53, 2015, pp.105-112.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This article is concerned with the experiences and perspectives of eleven children engaged with a family support service in England and Wales, UK. Support care is a short break provision for children, designed to ease family tensions and prevent long-term separation. Children and young people are most affected by families' involvement with the service as they have to spend regular periods away from their parents and home. The article is based on findings from a qualitative case study of support care. Eighty-two qualitative interviews and 22 h of participant observation were undertaken with children and young people, parents, support carers and social workers. Children's experiences of support care are examined within the article and this includes consideration of initial engagement with the service, the delivery of care and the relationships established with carers over the course of the intervention. Some practice tensions are highlighted in efforts to support children as well as maintain emphasis on family-focussed objectives. It is argued that the service specific issues raised have wider relevance for family support and social work policy and practice. (Publisher abstract)