Promising practices and strategies for using trauma-informed child welfare practice to improve foster care placement stability: a breakthrough series collaborative

This paper will provide information on a recent Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) conducted by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network on Using Trauma-Informed Child Welfare Practice to Improve Foster Care Placement Stability. Information on this particular BSC will be provided, followed by initial findings gathered from an evaluation of the BSC and metrics gathered by each of the nine participating teams throughout the BSC process. Specific trauma-informed promising strategies adopted by teams are presented along with recommendations for next steps.     

A review of the chance to grow project: A care project for pregnant and parenting adolescents

This paper reports on the process and outcome of an innovative program for pregnant and parenting adolescents, the Chance to Grow Project. One hundred sixty-one pregnant adolescents were exposed to intensive decision-making counseling and case management services. These young women were followed for 24 months, as were 87 pregnant teens who served as a comparison group. The results of the analysis suggest a number of important findings. These include a much higher placement for adoption of the babies of the program participants, higher levels of school retention, economic self-sufficiency, and more responsible sexual behavior on the part of the participants. This article describes the Chance to Grow Project in detail and suggests some important practice implications which can be drawn from this analysis.The Chance to Grow Project and its associated evaluation was funded by Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, Office of Population Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services (Federal Grant Number APH 000128-05); Robert H. Brethen Foundation; Christ Child Society; Louise Kramer Foundation; Mathile Family Foundation; Charles McNamee Foundation; Gerald and Carole Miller Family Foundation; Montgomery County Community Human Services; United Way of Dayton; and the University of Dayton.     

Evaluation of a multi-site program designed to strengthen relational bonds for siblings separated by foster care

Sibling relationships in foster care settings have received increased attention in recent years. Despite growing evidence regarding the protective potential of sibling relationships for youth in care, some sibling groups continue to experience foster care related separation, and few programs exist to address the needs of these youth.This study describes and evaluates Camp To Belong, a multi-site program designed to provide short-term reunification to separated sibling groups through a week-long summer camp experience. Using a pre-test post-test survey design, this paper examines changes in youth ratings of sibling conflict and sibling support across camps located in six geographically distinct regions of the United States. The effects of youth age, number of prior camp exposures, and camp location were tested using multilevel modeling procedures.Findings suggest that participation in Camp To Belong may reduce sibling conflict, and improvements in sibling support are noted for youth who have had prior exposure to the camp’s programming. Camp-level variance in the sibling support outcome highlight the complex nature of relationships for siblings separated by foster care, and suggest the need for additional research. Lessons learned from this multi-site evaluation and future directions are discussed.     

Increasing college access for youth aging out of foster care: Evaluation of a summer camp program for foster youth transitioning from high school to college

Young people who transition from the foster care system face many challenges including lack of support and other educational barriers. They are less likely to graduate from high school than their counterparts and go on to college yet despite challenges, many succeed and take advantage of higher education programs.In Michigan, a state with one of the highest percentage of youth in foster care, Michigan State University developed a small scale, targeted intervention to help transitioning foster youth achieve their goals of pursuing higher education. Led by the School of Social Work in collaboration with other colleges and disciplines, it was demonstrated that a campus based learning program for transitioning foster youth can help contribute toward a perceived increase in knowledge and information about college life, funding and admissions procedures. The educational process involved peer support, role modeling, mentoring and active learning sessions led by the faculty and students who were often foster care alumni themselves. Leaders and speakers came from a range of disciplines, institutions and organizations. This approach and curriculum contributed to perceptions of the camp as enhancing life skills, self-concept, empowerment and sense of purpose. Consequently, this program contributed to the resilience of those who attended and potentially helped build steps from care to higher education.     

Usability testing,initial implementation,and formative evaluation of an evidence-based intervention: Lessons from a demonstration project to reduce long-term foster care

The field of child welfare faces an undersupply of evidence-based interventions to address long-term foster care. The Permanency Innovations Initiative is a five-year federal demonstration project intended to generate evidence to reduce long stays in foster care for those youth who encounter the most substantial barriers to permanency. This article describes a systematic and staged approach to implementation and evaluation of a PII project that included usability testing as one of its key activities. Usability testing is an industry-derived practice which analyzes early implementation processes and evaluation procedures before they are finalized. This article describes the iterative selection, testing, and analysis of nine usability metrics that were designed to assess three important constructs of the project's initial implementation and evaluation: intervening early, obtaining consent, and engaging parents. Results showed that seven of nine metrics met a predetermined target. This study demonstrates how findings from usability testing influenced the initial implementation and formative evaluation of an evidence-supported intervention. Implications are discussed for usability testing as a quality improvement cycle that may contribute to better operationalized interventions and more reliable, valid, and replicable evidence.     

Effectiveness of a group-based academic tutoring program for children in foster care: A randomized controlled trial

The consistently poor educational achievement of children in foster care has been associated with many negative outcomes including long term poor adult adjustment (e.g., higher rates of suicide, criminality, and substance abuse). The current study was undertaken to improve foster children's academic skills through academic remediation. Across this two year randomized study, 91 children in out of home foster or kinship care, between grades 1 and 8 inclusive, completed the study. One-half were randomly assigned to the 30-week direct-instruction small group tutoring condition, while the other half served as wait-list controls. A statistically significant increase in standard scores was found on reading decoding, spelling and mathematic skills for the children who received tutoring, but no differences were obtained on sentence comprehension. Significant effect sizes, in the small to moderate range, were also found in support of the tutoring condition across these three domains. The implications of these positive findings as they relate to improving educational achievement among children in foster care are discussed.     

The outcome of institutional youth care compared to non-institutional youth care for children of primary school age and early adolescence: A multi-level meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe outcome of institutional youth care for children is heavily debated. This multilevel meta-analysis aims to address the outcome of institutional youth care compared to non-institutional youth care for children of primary school age and early adolescence in economically developed countries. A gain of knowledge in this area may help the decision for referral of children to institutional youth care or other types of care (e.g., foster care or community-based care), and improve outcomes for children in youth care.MethodsOf 19 controlled studies (15.526 participants), 63 effect sizes of behaviour problems (externalizing, internalizing, and total), skills (social and cognitive) and delinquency were computed based on comparisons between institutional Evidence-Based Treatment (EBT), institutional Care As Usual (CAU), non-institutional EBT, and non-institutional CAU.ResultsInstitutional CAU showed a small-to-medium negative significant effect compared to non-institutional CAU (d = − 0.342). Furthermore, children in institutional care showed slightly more delinquent behaviour compared to children in non-institutional care (d = − 0.329). Significant moderating effects were also found for study design, year of publication and sex of the child.ConclusionsChildren receiving non-institutional CAU (mostly foster care) had slightly better outcomes than children in institutional CAU (regular group care). No differences were found between institutional and non-institutional care when institutional treatment was evidence-based. More research is needed on the conditions that make established treatment methods work in institutional care for (young) children.     

A new paradigm: Bringing a historical and sociopolitical trauma lens to the training for welfare practitioners working with Aboriginal families

This article argues that child protection agencies must provide mandatory training about the Aboriginal experience within the welfare state and the resultant trauma that exists in Australian Indigenous communities. This article highlights the areas of curriculum to be included in training for welfare practitioners working with Aboriginal families in the New South Wales child protection system. The training content explores the Stolen Generations’ trauma experiences of child loss and examines the dichotomy between past child welfare laws and present child protection laws and intergenerational racism. Another key component of the training comprises information about the impacts of trauma on brain development.     

Foster care in India: An exploratory survey of the community perceptions and prospects for implementation of foster care in a developing nation: A study in Udaipur,Rajasthan, India

This study was conducted in order to assess the prospects for implementing foster care as an alternative to the dominant system of institutional care available to orphaned and abandoned children in India. 653 families in urban Udaipur participated in a mixed-methods based assessment of receptivity to foster and adoptive care. The majority of those who responded reported receptivity to the idea of foster care as an alternative to institutional care. However, analyses demonstrated that respondents also perceived barriers to implementing systematic foster care, particularly with regard to family recruitment due to problems securing family and community support for participation. The results are discussed in light of governmental calls for non-governmental organization and other stakeholders to institute alternatives to foster and adoptive care. The results of this study have applied significance for organizations and practitioners seeking to implement care alternatives for orphan and abandoned children in India.     

Re-thinking a systemic approach to child welfare: A critical response to the framework for the assessment of children in need and their families

The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need was introduced by the Department of Health (England and Wales) in 2000. Offering guidance to social workers in child and family settings, it came as a watershed in three main ways. First, it emphasized the connection between child poverty and developmental delay. Second, it advocated a systemic approach to child welfare by drawing on a number of related theories, including Bronfenbrenner's (1979) model of human development. Third, it overturned a restricted preoccupation with child abuse that had dominated much of child and family social work in the past. These developments aside, the systemic basis of the framework is problematic because it fails to explain how power operates within society. Without this understanding, social workers will not be in a position to tackle the inequalities which the framework rightly targets. This paper seeks to remedy these deficits by drawing on the critical systems theory of Jürgen Habermas.     

Designing the care environment in hospitals and nursing homes: a pilot for a new and reliable method for determining the optimum space to live in and work in

One of the major problems encountered in health care during the process of implementing ergonomic changes is the lack of space. There is often not enough space to work with larger equipment like patient lifters and shower chairs or other medical devices necessary in a preventive program. This leads to undesirable extra physical load for nurses. Therefore it is imperative that in the process of designing the health care environment ergonomic considerations are taken into account. A method to assess the optimum size and shape of the space required is developed and the value of the method is tested in a pilot setting. The pilot is currently underway and the results will be presented on the final poster.