Search results for ‘Subject term:"foster care"’ Sort:
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The quality of evaluations of foster parent training: an empirical review
- Authors:
- FESTINGER Trudy, BAKER Amy J.L.
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12), 2013, p.147–2153.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to identify published evaluations of foster parent training programmes (pre-service, in-service single session, and in-service multi-session). Results of the review of the literature revealed that few evaluations have been conducted on the preservice training programmes most widely used and the results are mixed at best in the evaluations conducted. Moreover, the best evaluations of in-service training were for the programmes least likely to be offered to foster parents: multi-session programmes. Taken together, the results point to gaps in the knowledge base and directions for future research. (Publisher abstract)
Training foster parents in loyalty conflict: a training evaluation
- Authors:
- MEHTA Nirav, BAKER Amy J.L., CHONG Jeannette
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 35(1), 2013, pp.75-81.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Fifty two foster parents participated in one of seven two-and-a-half hour training sessions on the issue of children caught in a loyalty conflict. Prior to the training foster parents completed a measure of their demographics, receptivity to learning about the issue, and their knowledge about the issue. Following the training the participants completed a measure of their perception that the training was helpful, their intent to change based on the training, and their knowledge about loyalty conflicts. They also participated in a focused discussion about loyalty conflicts. In this sample foster parents were found to have high levels of receptivity to training, high rates of perceived helpfulness of the training, and high levels of intent to change after the training as well as an increase in knowledge regarding loyalty conflict from before to after the training. Despite limitations in sampling strategy and sample size, the data support the belief that foster parents want to learn about this issue and can benefit from a single training on it. (Edited publisher abstract)
Foster children's views of their birth parents: a review of the literature
- Authors:
- BAKER Amy J.L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 67, 2016, pp.177-183.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Several bodies of research, theory, and practice document that even maltreated children develop and maintain attachment relationships with their parents. While this attachment can confound clinicians, it can be understood from an evolutionary perspective: Attachments – even with abusive parents – increase the survival of the species by ensuring that dependent infants and children in danger will seek proximity and comfort from a caregiving adult. This review examines whether children, who have alternative caregiving options, will still express attachment to their maltreating parent. A total of 27 studies in which children currently in foster care were interviewed were coded for presence/absence of three expressions of attachment: (1) Yearning for the birth parents (2) fear and anxiety due to separation from the birth parents and (3) minimization of the maltreatment perpetrated against them by the birth family. The study also asked whether, despite the presence of attachment, maltreated children would express relief upon removal from the home of the birth parent. Most of the studies reported that at least some children expressed these four related beliefs, providing important insight for clinicians working with maltreated children. (Edited publisher abstract)
Prior placements of youth admitted to therapeutic foster care and residential treatment centers: the Odyssey Project population
- Authors:
- BAKER Amy J.L., CURTIS Patrick
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(1), February 2006, pp.38-60.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Two samples of youth in the child welfare system were compared—youth entering residential treatment centers (RTCs) and youth entering therapeutic foster care (TFC). Three questions were addressed: (1) Where were youth living prior to the current placement? (2) Had youth been treated in other systems of care? (3) How many prior placements did youth have? Time 1 data of the national “Odyssey Project” developed by the Child Welfare League of America were used. The measure utilized was the child and family characteristics form (CFC). Results revealed that youth admitted to RTCs were more likely to be entering from other systems of care and stepping down to the RTC while youth entering TFCs were more likely to be entering from within the child welfare system and stepping up to a higher level of care. The results have implications for improving clinical practice and for the development of a cross-system perspective on serving troubled youth.
Mental health and behavioral problems of youth in the child welfare system: residential treatment centres compared to therapeutic foster care in the Odyssey Project population
- Authors:
- BAKER Amy J.L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Welfare Journal, 86(3), May 2007, pp.97-123.
- Publisher:
- Child Welfare League of America
This study addresses two questions in a sample of 22 agencies in 13 American states: 1) how prevalent were emotional and behavioural disorders in the young people admitted to residential treatment centers (RCTs) and therapeutic foster care (TFC), and 2) were the young people in RTCs significantly more likely to be disturbed than young people in TFCs. Data were drawn from the Time 1 phase of the longitudinal national "Odyssey Project". Measures included and extensive child and family characteristics form and the Child Behavior Checklist. The results revealed extremely high levels of behavioural and mental health disorders in the sample as a whole, well above the norms for a non-child welfare population. The prevalence of disorder in the RTC population was substantially greater than in the TFC population.
Covariates of length of stay in residential treatment
- Authors:
- BAKER Amy J.L., WULCZYN Fred, DALE Nan
- Journal article citation:
- Child Welfare Journal, 84(3), May 2005, pp.363-386.
- Publisher:
- Child Welfare League of America
This study explores variables associated with length of stay in a child welfare residential treatment centre im the USA. The study followed three entry cohorts (416 boys) from admission through discharge. The researchers conducted event history analyses to examine the rates of discharge over time and the covariates of length of stay. They conducted analyses by discharge destination (reunification, transferred, or ran away). The results demonstrated that mental health issues slowed down rates of discharge for young people who were reunified or transferred. For children who left by running away, age and prior substance history were associated with faster rates of exit. These results have important public policy implications for improving the application of length of stay variables in planning and treatment.