Experiences of Biological Parents and Their Older Children in Out-of-Home Care for the First Time

This article will examine the parenting characteristics and challenges that faced a cohort of families participating in an exploratory qualitative research study. This study sought to describe the experiences and characteristics of parents whose children were placed in the child welfare system in early-to-late adolescence (ages 12–18), thus gaining an understanding of the parenting challenges faced as they were able to maintain their children in their homes for a significant portion of their lives. The families of older youths entering care for the first time described how alcohol and drug abuse impacted their relationships with children, significant others, jobs, and their mental health status. A significant issue that emerged in several of the cases were older children who initiated a report to child welfare themselves.     

Groupwork for Parents whose Children are in Care: Challenges and Opportunities

Until recently, the focus for child protection in NSW has been on risk assessment, supportive measures for parents, and ‘the best interests of the child’. The needs of the birth families, once their children have been removed have not received the same attention. An emerging body of research indicates a growing awareness of the importance of the link between good outcomes for children in care and positive ongoing links with their birth parents. Biological parents of children who have been removed invariably continue to have parenting relationships, if not with the removed child, then with subsequent birth children, step children and children in their extended family. Service provision for this group of parents is critical given the complexity and scale of their emotional needs, and the implications for the children they will care for. In this paper, we describe one such intervention: Kids in Care, a group program offered at Relationships Australia NSW, and consider the arising issues and dilemmas for both parents and group workers. Developed to address the particular needs of parents whose children have been taken into care, the group creates an environment of acceptance and support. This opens up possibilities for parents to consider issues of grief, stigma and trauma, as well as to develop skills in communication, assertiveness and emotional regulation.     

Maternal Cohabitation and Child Well‐Being Among Kindergarten Children

Using data collected from 10,511 kindergarten children and their parents from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort, this study examines child well‐being across cohabiting 2‐biological‐parent families; cohabiting stepfamilies; married stepfamilies; and married 2‐biological‐parent families. Findings indicate no differences in child well‐being for children living in cohabiting stepfamilies and cohabiting 2‐biological‐parent families. Multivariate models controlling for child characteristics, economic resources, maternal depressive symptoms, stability, and parenting practices show no significant differences across family types in child well‐being indicators, with the exception of reading skills. Important factors in explaining the link between cohabitation and child well‐being include economic resources, maternal depressive symptoms, and parenting practices.     

Child custody placement outcomes for mothers

Internationally there is a broad literature on risks for child custody placements. In contrast, very little is known about their outcomes on parents. The topic is relevant not only for parents themselves but also for children placed outside their homes, as many children keep contact with their birth parents or return to live with them. In a retrospective cohort study setting we analyze child custody placement outcomes (social assistance receipt, unemployment and work disability) for mothers whose children had been taken into custody between 1997 and 2004 in Finland. Data from a child placement register were merged with several administrative social insurance registers. Comparison groups of population mothers are included in the study. The procedure yielded an internationally unique database. According to the results of our study, mothers whose children are taken into custody are more often unemployed and in need of social assistance than mothers in the comparison group. Furthermore, they are also more often on a disability pension, due to mental health problems in particular, than mothers in general. While considering the results, we examine family policy and general welfare policy implications of support to families whose children have been taken into custody.     

The wellbeing of foster children and their relationship with foster parents and biological parents: a child’s perspective

Most Dutch foster children live permanently in foster families. It is often assumed that foster children have ambivalent loyalties and attachments to their birth parents and foster parents and are torn between the two. In this study 59 children between 10 and 18 years placed in long term foster care completed standardised questionnaires on the relationship with their parents respectively foster parents and their wellbeing. Results show that, on average, foster children have positive feelings of loyalty and attachment towards both their foster parents and biological parents. However, their wellbeing appeared mainly related with stronger attachment representations towards their foster parents. This study found no indications for a competing position of biological parents and foster parents from the perspective of the child. Nevertheless, foster children who see their foster and biological parents as more vulnerable or experience stronger normative boundaries, feel worse compared to children who experience this feelings less.     

Adoptions by Single Parents

Adoptions by single parents are thought by the public and by adoption professionals to be a plan for children needing adoption which is less advantageous for the child than a two parent adoption. For this reason, children who are difficult to find homes for are often placed with single parents; these are usually older children whose experiences have led to emotional and behavioral problems. Single persons who wish to parent an infant often adopt a child from another country. A review of the literature concerning single parent adoptions, and examination of the findings of a longitu- dinal study, indicate that the single persons who adopt are well able to carry out the responsibilities of parenting. They handle the special issues of adoption competently. Because children placed with single parents are frequently children with complex needs, and because single parents do not have a partner to share the responsibilities of parenting, continuing support from family and friends, the commu- nity, and from the adoption agency are important. Children adopted by single parents are as well adjusted as children adopted into two parent homes. There is some evidence that single parent homes may have unique strengths and be the placement of choice for some children.     

Are At-Risk Parents Getting What They Need? Perspectives of Parents Involved with Child Protective Services

This qualitative study explores the perspective of 24 parents who were at risk for having their children placed in foster care but ultimately retained custody of their children. We asked participants to reflect on their parenting needs prior to Child and Protective Services involvement and if and/or how they implemented parent education skills post-intervention. Parents most frequently cited stressors such as financial strain and single parenthood as contributing factors associated with their involvement with the child welfare system. Many parents stated that they wanted help with their parenting practices and provided their thoughts about time-out and physical punishment. Implications include assessing parental stress at the onset of services, seeking to understand the unique needs of families, evaluating the impact of length of time services are offered, and helping parents utilize age-appropriate discipline strategies.     

Foster Parenting the Sexually Abused

The number of foster children with histories of sexual abuse has increased over the past decade. These children often demonstrate symptomatology which can tax the resources of foster parents. We describe a program designed to enhance parental sense of competence in dealing with abused children via the integration of parenting skills training with education on normative sexual development and child sexual abuse. Foster parents demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge and comfort with sexual development, behaviors associated with sexual abuse, and an increase in parental sense of competence. Additional analyses suggest a relationship between a child's sexual history and its impact on current foster parenting attitudes.     

Educational Gradients in Parents' Child‐Care Time Across Countries, 1965–2012

Parental time with children leads to posive child outcomes. Some studies have reported a posive educational gradient: More educated parents devote more time to children than other parents. Furthermore, some research finds that parental child care increased over time. Less certain is whether more educated parents increased their time more than less educated ones did, whether parenting trends for mothers and fathers are the same, and whether observed patterns characterize all Western countries or only some. Hypotheses inspired by theories of social diffusion, class differentiation, and ideologies of child rearing are tested with time‐use data for 11 Western countries between 1965 and 2012. For both mothers and fathers, results indicated a widespread educational gradient and an increase in child‐care time. In a number of countries, the posive educational gradient increased; nowhere was it dished. Thus, the advantages of intensive parenting continued to accrue to the well‐educated elite.     

Pop Goes the Woozle: Being Misled by Research on Child Custody and Parenting Plans

Mental health professionals, lawyers, and judges whose work involves child custody decisions are often presented with social science research on issues related to which parenting plan is in the children’s best interests. Unfortunately, this research can be misrepresented in ways that mislead these professionals and the children’s parents, leading to child custody decisions that are not the most beneficial for the children. The process of misrepresenting the research in ways that create myths and misconceptions has been referred to as woozling. This article describes how social science data can be woozled, illustrating this with examples related to parenting plans for children under the age of 5 whose parents have separated.     

The Abused and Neglected Foster Child: Determinants of Emotional Conflict and Oppositional Behavior

Behavioral and emotional problems have been observed in emotionally vulnerable children in foster care under certain circumstances. A common pattern involves the unpredictable appearance of a previously absent or unavailable natural parent. Such an occurrence precipitates the reawakening of the child’s ambivalent feelings toward both natural and foster parents as well as their fears of abandonment. This frequently leads to behavior that is oppositional and difficult to manage. If the foster parents find the child’s behavior unmanageable, and if they are not provided with appropriate professional support during this difficult period, a crisis often follows that precipitates the child’s removal from the foster home. Individual, familial, and systemic contributions to this dilemma are discussed" This article emphasizes the origins and nature of the intrapsychic dilemma faced by these children. Particular emphasis is placed on the manifestations of a conflict of loyalty, in the child, and its relationship to the oppositional behavior of these children in foster care. Additional considerations include the impact of inconsistent parenting, abuse and neglect by the natural parents, the assumption of a parental role by the child and a concomitant renunciation of the child’s dependency needs, as well as an examination of the role of the foster parent’s fantasy of what it will be like to parent a traumatized child.     

Psychological homelessness; A clinical example

Abstract

In England and Wales nearly 100,000 children are in the care of local authorities. Many of them will have suffered from inadequate, often grossly inadequate, parenting and will consequently be psychologically damaged. Without considerable help they are likely to become extremely disturbed adults, a burden on health, social and prison services, and with little capacity to be parents themselves, thereby repeating the pattern in future generations. But those who control our health and social service resources seem unwilling to look ahead, and the plight of the psychologically homeless child is therefore not seriously addressed. The staff of children's homes are often inexperienced, inadequately trained, given no psychiatric back-up, and paid the pittance which presumably reflects the very low value put on their vital work by society. The intensive psychotherapeutic treatment that, in addition to good enough substitute parenting, could make some lasting impression on the distortions of character typical of the emotionally traumatised child, is available for only a negligible number. The child described below showed the sort of personality disorder commonly found in such children, but was one of the few to receive sufficient help to make some difference to her character and to her future psychiatric health. 100,000 children (D.H.S.S., 1982) are in care in England and Wales, the majority of them in children's homes or foster homes, because they do not have parents capable of providing for their physical or emotional needs.     

Issues of shared parenting of LGBTQ children and youth in foster care: preparing foster parents for new roles

Foster parents have increasingly assumed new and challenging roles during the past decade. Meeting the developmental, attachment, and grieving needs of children and youth in out of home care is challenging by itself, but can become even more difficult with the issues that arise when the child is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ). Preservice and in-service foster parent training programs can strengthen shared parenting skills by focusing on the universal critical issues of safety, well being, and permanence for children and youth in foster care. This article will focus on these skill areas: (1) sharing parenting to promote healthy growth and development of LGBTQ youth in foster care, (2) threats to safety of LGBTQ youth in foster care, and (3) general challenges and strategies for preparing foster parents of LGBTQ youth to build support systems.     

Parenting in poverty: Perspectives of high-risk parents

Parents considered high risk by child protection services commonly are striving to raise children in poverty but are identified as requiring improved parenting skills. Parent perceptions of their own needs are typically not sought or elicited. This longitudinal study of 35 parents over 18 months garnered 115 in-depth interviews focusing on parent views regarding barriers to effective parenting. Analysis indicated that parents uniformly identified poverty as the primary barrier to their capacity to provide adequate care for their children. Themes elicited indicated that financially parents were living precariously close to margins of defeat. Parents accepted personal responsibility for their economic and parental failings, equating no income with bad parenting. Depression and despair associated with poverty were acknowledged to impair parenting and increase self-doubt about parenting capacity. Experiences with social services generally led to low expectations of parenting assistance. The need for improved aid for impoverished parents is discussed.     

Parenting stress of grandparents and other kin as informal kinship caregivers: A mixed methods study

Informal kinship caregivers provide the majority of out of home care to children who can no longer safely stay with their biological parent. Yet their parenting challenges are understudied since they are often left out from child welfare and other service systems. This mixed methods study, using a survey and focus groups of grandparent and other kin, examined predictors and sources of parenting stress. Quantitative findings suggested that the kinship family's needs and the caregiver's health and emotional well-being adversely affected parenting stress. Grandparent caregivers experienced an elevated level of parenting stress compared to other kin caregivers. Qualitative findings suggested that financial strains, concerns over children's behavior, navigating service systems and difficult relationships with birth parents contributed to their stress. It appeared that grandparent caregivers faced special challenges due to generational gaps, guilt and concerns over birth parents.     

The abused and neglected foster child: Determinants of emotional conflict and oppositional behavior

Behavioral and emotional problems have been observed in emotionally vulnerable children in foster care under certain circumstances. A common pattern involves the unpredictable appearance of a previously absent or unavailable natural parent. Such an occurrence precipitates the reawakening of the child's ambivalent feelings toward both natural and foster parents as well as their fears of abandonment. This frequently leads to behavior that is oppositional and difficult to manage. If the foster parents find the child's behavior unmanageable, and if they are not provided with appropriate professional support during this difficult period, a crisis often follows that precipitates the child's removal from the foster home. Individual, familial, and systemic contributions to this dilemma are discussed. This article emphasizes the origins and nature of the intrapsychic dilemma faced by these children. Particular emphasis is placed on the manifestations of a conflict of loyalty, in the child, and its relationship to the oppositional behavior of these children in foster care. Additional considerations include the impact of inconsistent parenting, abuse and neglect by the natural parents, the assumption of a parental role by the child and a concomitant renunciation of the child's dependency needs, as well as an examination of the role of the foster parent's fantasy of what it will be like to parent a traumatized child.     

Keeping Foster Children Connected to Their Biological Parents: The Impact of Foster Parent Training and Support

A primary goal of the foster care system is to reunite foster children with their biological parents. Keeping foster children connected to their biological parents, through visiting and other forms of contact, is essential for reunification because it helps to reestablish and maintain family ties during out-of-home placement. Parent-child contact can also increase the child's well-being while in care. Although foster parents are expected to help foster children stay connected to their biological parents, their actual involvement in this process remains problematic. This study tests the hypothesis that agencies can promote foster parent involvement in the parent-child connection by providing foster parents with specialized training and ongoing support. The findings support the notion that training and support increases the involvement of foster parents in parent-child contact.     

Supporting Post-Adoption Contact for Children Adopted From Care: A Study of Social Workers' Attitudes

New legislation in England and Wales requires adoption agencies to specify the contact adopted children will have with their birth families and obliges agencies to offer all parties support to maintain such contact. This study, based on responses from 112 adoption social workers in England and Wales, used a case vignette methodology to explore workers' attitudes towards supporting post-adoption contact. The findings suggest that social workers think primarily about the child's needs and about providing services to or on behalf of the child. In contrast, adults' needs, especially the relationship between birth parents and adoptive parents, were less often considered. Workers were least orientated toward supporting birth parents. Workers from different agencies had very different attitudes towards the case vignette. This study suggests that supporting post-adoption contact is a complex professional task likely to be influenced by workers' own attitudes. Implications for training, support and supervision are discussed.     

Parenting Under Pressure: Experiences of Parenting While Aging Out of Foster Care

Youth “aging out” of foster care experience higher rates of adolescent parenting than their peers who have not been in care. Due to their history of maltreatment, high adolescent pregnancy rates, and poor psychosocial outcomes, youth aging out who are parents are a vulnerable at-risk group. This study examines the parenting experiences of 33 youth aging out (21 mothers and 12 fathers) using data from a larger ethnography. Field notes of observation and transcribed interviews of youth aging out who are parents were analyzed using open coding strategies. Findings show parents encountered challenges while aging out and parenting, yet they found joy in their children and strived to be good parents despite having limited parenting skills, few resources, and little support. Desiring a better life for their children and fearing their children would enter foster care, parents were motivated to improve their lives for their children. Implications are discussed.