Working with neglected children and their families

Child neglect has proved a particularly difficult area for social work to address. In the first part of the paper a number of reasons for this are discussed. We go on to suggest that chronic child neglect characteristically involves the breakdown or absence of a relationship of care. Therefore, the social work response needs to include a focus on the relationship difficulties between parent and child which manifest as either an unwillingness or inability on the part of the primary carer to offer reliable, adequate care, and on broader relationship difficulties within the family. In arguing for an approach that pays attention to the intra-personal and relational dynamics of neglect, we draw specifically on attachment theory and consider how Ainsworth's (1978) typology of attachment patterns can shed light on parenting styles and patterns of family functioning associated with chronic neglect. We use the concept of the 'internal working model' to develop an understanding of the ways in which family members understand and live out their relationships—with each other and with the worker. We conclude by suggesting that this relational approach requires an ability on the part of the social worker to work both with and within relationships, and look at the contribution that a critically informed relationship-based approach can make to work with families where child neglect occurs.     

Therapy with lesbian and gay parents and their children

This article explores some of the social and clinical issues facing the many different kinds of gay and lesbian families that are becoming increasingly visible in the United States. Research findings are discussed that dispel popularly held myths and stereotypes concerning these families, gays and lesbians as parents, and their children. Clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate issues often encountered in the consulting room, some unique to gay and lesbian families and some common to all families.     

Partnership with parents in planning the care of their children

Working in partnership with parents is a guiding principle of the Children Act. This principle is made more concrete through specific requirements of the Act, such as those relating to care plans and reviews for children looked after by the local authority. This article examines the extent to which working in partnership with parents has been translated into practice, using some of the findings from a major research evaluation of child care planning under the Children Act.     

Helping parents decide on ADHD treatment for their children

In the United States, medication is often the first intervention used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Yet psychosocial interventions with both parents and teachers working together to shape the child's behavior can also be an effective approach, enabling smaller amounts of medication to be used with fewer side effects. An overview of behavioral interventions is provided with a focus on parent training in child behavior management and teacher training in classroom management. Key nursing interventions on behalf of children with ADHD include assessing parental knowledge about treatment, listening supportively to parents, and promoting partnerships among parents, teachers, and providers.     

The gift of speech: why parents implant their children

In Australia cochlear implantation of profoundly deaf infants, babies, and young children is approaching 100% saturation. Why do parents choose to implant rather than learn Auslan? What is the Deaf community’s reaction to this and how will it change Sign as a living language? In this article, the author is a Deaf parent who chose to implant her Deaf child. When she initially published in a news outlet on this topic the reaction was quite heated: how terrible a parent you must be if you are denying your child Sign! This article explains the reasoning behind that decision to implant, taking issue with the notion that giving a child an ‘extra ability’ of speech means that you do not love them as they are. Nothing is natural, but everything is acquired or augmented – in all children.     

Working with parents to reduce juvenile sex offender recidivism

Although there is very little research in the area of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment, one of the factors that might be worth exploring is how the parental relationship may aid in successful relapse prevention. Since the family environment is a potential risk factor for adolescent sex offenders, integration of relapse prevention into daily family life may be a significant part of these youths' success or failure in the community. This article focuses on the concept of including parents in juvenile sex offender treatment. Issues addressed include what treatment providers can do to involve parents in relapse prevention, treatment providers' misconceptions about the inclusion of parents in treatment, a rationale for including parents in treatment, and research regarding different parenting styles.     

Helping parents with mental illnesses and their children: a call for family-focused mental health care

1. Large numbers of individuals with mental illnesses are parents to minor children. 2. Recommendations to improve services suggest that services provided by the adult mental health system and child service agencies be coordinated. 3. Nursing care intersects both the adult and child systems, and nurses have the expertise to offer a variety of services. 4. There is an urgent need to improve family-focused mental health nursing care to benefit parents with mental illnesses, their children and families, and the overall community and society.     

Substance-abusing parents and their children in termination of parental rights cases in Israel

Parental substance abuse significantly increases the risk of child maltreatment and loss of custody. If parental capacity due to substance abuse cannot be rehabilitated within a limited time period and if the child cannot be safely returned to his/her home, the state, in various jurisdictions, is empowered to initiate termination of parental rights proceedings. Despite the connection between substance abuse and termination of parental rights, the research literature in this area is limited. Based on a sample of 212 rulings in favor of termination of parental rights by Israeli courts, the present study examines factors that differentiate substance-abusing from non-substance-abusing parents. The findings indicate that substance-abusing parents constitute a unique high-risk group among parents whose parental rights were terminated. This group is characterized by a higher cumulative risk that includes mental health issues with an emphasis on personality disorders and emotional problems, criminal records, child neglect and maternal single parenthood. All these factors, as well as the overall number of risk factors in a particular case, were found to predict substance-abusing parenthood. A discussion of the findings and their implications for social work practice with families involved in the child welfare system follows.     

Trauma-informed services for children with incarcerated parents

Children of incarcerated parents have often experienced not only the trauma of family separation, but also other forms of adverse events. Social workers can improve service delivery to this population by incorporating SAMHSA’s components of trauma-informed care (TIC). Translating TIC concepts into practice is an important but challenging goal for social work practitioners. The first half of this article reviews the literature about the effects of parental incarceration on attachment, stigma, physical and mental health, and intergenerational transmission of trauma. The latter half of the article applies principles of TIC by offering specific recommendations for conceptualizing cases through the lens of trauma and utilizing trauma-informed responses with these children.     

Working with parents of disturbed adolescents: a multifaceted group approach

Experience with this parents' group model suggests that there are a number of advantages in using a multifaceted approach when working with parents of severely disturbed adolescents. Basic support and reduction of guilt and blaming are derived from the therapeutic aspect of the group process. This is augmented by having the parents in a leadership role, in the manner of a self-help group. Bringing in educational and advocacy elements allows the group to respond directly to the parents' need for detailed, accurate information about the disorders and treatment resources for dealing with them. This approach is not designed to replace family therapy, but to provide resources and support to parents. Future research will be necessary to substantiate the clinical impression that the group is quite helpful to parents and to elucidate all the factors producing success.     

Working with children with obsessive compulsive disorder

1. Children with OCD are a special challenge for nursing staff. 2. Children with OCD often are unable to comply with preexisting behavior management programs at child psychiatric units. 3. Each child who enters an inpatient unit must be viewed as an individual, separate from his or her diagnosis, and what works for one patient with a particular diagnosis may not work for another patient with the same diagnosis. 4. A special plan devised with input from the entire nursing team is the best way to ensure that continuity of care is carried out among all staff on the unit.     

Recruiting adoptive parents for children with developmental disabilities

One agency describes a systematic approach to recruitment of prospective adoptive families for children with developmental disabilities. The recruitment methodology, preliminary conclusions, and implications for future recruitment of families are presented.     

Care for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the Czech Republic

The problematic issue of care for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the Czech Republic, highlighted in this article, stems from the large number of children in institutional care. Workers from the Department for Social and Legal Child Protection (OSPOD) may get involved if there are factors in the family jeopardising the child's healthy development that cannot be improved, and institutional care may be recommended. This article discusses factors that influence and many times complicate the worker's job and are often the reason for an adversely high number of children living without a family. Attempts to reunite children with their biological families are complicated by the fact that the family situation rarely improves. Therefore children returning to live with their own families face the same conditions they were previously removed from. A more positive option for some children placed in institutional care is adoption or long-term foster care. However, many children continue to spend their whole childhood in a care home. The authors describe the care system in the Czech Republic and point out its weaknesses and some controversial facts. They also discuss and evaluate the ‘National Action Plan’, a government policy document, which articulates aspirations and obligations for all government departments and organisations involved in the Czech childcare system.     

Fostering homeless children and their parents too: the emergence of whole-family foster care.

Children should not be placed in out-of-home care simply because their families lack the means to provide for their basic needs, yet this practice continues nationwide. A new program based in St. Paul, MN, gives county social service departments the placement option of whole-family foster care. The target population is adult parents and minor children without stable residences, where the children are at risk of placement in out-of-home care. Although the parents and children may have special needs, there are no safety risks that would necessitate separating children and parents. The program's design is described and policy questions discussed.