Author
COUSINS Jennifer.
Title
Every child is special: placing disabled children for permanence.
Publisher
British Association for Adoption and Fostering, 2006
Summary
This guide tracks the converging processes of planning for a permanent home for disabled children and recruiting suitable families, covering assessing and communicating with children, recruiting and assessing families and making links, planning permanence, profiling and featuring children, and supporting placements, and examining some of the organisational structures forming the context of this work, highlighting the necessary changes if more disabled children are to have the security of a permanent family. It provides an overview of disabled children 'in need' and 'looked after' and describes current models of disability, acknowledging the problem of definitions and terminology and discussing impairment in terms of language and popular culture. Legal issues are also briefly explained.
Context
Like any other child, disabled children separated from their birth parents need permanent families, but they often wait a very long time. As many as 40% of children needing permanence have an impairment or some form of special need, but little has been written about permanent family placement for disabled children.
Contents
An introduction explains that this guide draws together the available research alongside the pooled ideas of social workers, foster carers and other professionals, and that it is based on the premises that no-one should think disability is someone else's issue: disabled children are not a separate group, but primarily children, each of whom may have specific needs; definitions of disability vary; all social workers in the child care field need a basic knowledge of the processes of fostering and adoption, as well as disability; and it does not, except in passing, refer to or attempt to explain specific impairments, medical conditions or diagnoses, nor give a glossary of conditions. Chapter 2 asks Who are the children?, saying there are many problems facing anyone wishing to sketch an accurate overview of disabled children living in the community or looked after by local authorities, the absence of a universally agreed definition of disability being only one. Chapter 3 states that any discussion must be located within its wider social context, and discusses models and definitions of disability, clarification of terms, and language, images and representation of disabled children. Chapter 4 discusses legal issues, covering children's legal status, disabled children as 'children in need', family-based short breaks care, 'children in need' who live away from home, and special needs. Assessing children is the theme of Chapter 5, with sections on the relationship of trauma, attachment, separation/loss, and cognitive issues to disability, assessment (multiple explanations and multiple impairments), involving children, and young people talking. Chapter 6 is about communicating with disabled children, and discusses good listening, tuning in to behaviour, sensitive questioning, non-verbal systems for people with hearing impairment, vision impairment, learning difficulties, physical disabilities, and others, and aids to communication. Chapter 7, 'Recruiting families - making matches', asks what works, discussing recruiting black families, disabled adopters and carers, and other marginalised groups and, in making matches, assessment of carers' suitability, identifying a link, assessment of the family's and child's compatibility, and preparation and training. Pathways to permanence is discussed in Chapter 8, with sections on disabled children in the community ('children in need'), living away from home, in boarding schools and health settings, and who are looked after (in social services residential care and in temporary foster care). It also discusses the options for permanence: long-term and permanent fostering, special guardianship and adoption, with a final section on the debate about adoption or fostering. Profiling and featuring children is covered by Chapter 9: knowing the child, the kind of family, good practice in profiling children, photographs and videos, featuring children, siblings and child-led matching. Chapter 10 is about moving in, and Chapter 11 supporting placements: adoption support, short breaks, the birth family, contact, and contact and disabled children. Organisational structures - the role of the children's disability team, and when and by whom family-finding is done - is the subject of Chapter 12. Finally Chapter 13 makes recommendations on overcoming the barriers under the headings of values (think disability! and include children), training (on family placement and disability awareness, for reviewing officers, in assessment and communication, and in writing reports and children's profiles), expanding the pool of carers and adopters (innovative methods, welcoming everyone, and supporting approved carers and adopters from minority groups), planning (child appreciation days, accommodated children, and adoption plans), organisational structures, financial and budgetary matters, and research. Appendices describe a study of 18 children with severe and profound impairments, and give a toolkit for communicating with children.
16 references
ISBN 1 903699 94 0