Part of the family: Planning for permanence in long-term family foster care

There are concerns for the stability and outcomes for children in care amongst policy makers in England and many other countries. The goal of permanence for children separated from their birth families and in the care of the state has dominated child care policy and practice in the UK, the USA and Canada since the 1980s, but the meanings of permanence in terms of stability, emotional security and family membership into adulthood are complex and the placements and legal status thought best able to achieve permanence are contested.This research was an investigation of planning for permanence in long-term foster family care in England, where it is accepted by policy makers that this is a legitimate permanence option. The aim was to consider the fit between the planning and reviewing systems designed to achieve permanence in foster care and the reality of planned permanent placements as experienced by foster children and foster carers.Results suggested that although committed relationships within the foster family were helping children to feel a sense of permanence and to become part of the family, planning and reviewing procedures required by corporate parenting were often not adapted to the special nature of these foster placements. It was concluded that although planning and reviewing systems need to be rigorous, they also need to be more child and family sensitive in permanent placements.     

Home visiting with family day care providers.

The benefits and problems of home visiting with agency-sponsored family day care providers are illuminated in a study of the perceptions of both agency visitors and the providers.     

Family to family: reconstructing foster care in the US

The public child welfare system in North America is faced with growing deprivation, rising numbers of children who need out-of-home placements for increasingly lengthy periods, and a shortage of foster carers. The Family to Family initiative offers public agencies funds and tools to help them strengthen family support services within the communities from which children enter the system, improve the quantity and quality of neighbourhood-based foster carers and develop the capacity to collect and analyse outcome data.     

Accomplishing family reunification for children in care: An Australian study

Whilst child protection systems are concerned with removal of children from their families in the interests of safety, the capacity of child welfare systems to return children safely to their families of origin is of central importance. The multidimensional standardised assessment tool, the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale—Reunification (NCFAS-R) was used by practitioners to assess family strengths and needs in case planning and reunification decision making. The current paper examined (1) whether NCFAS-R domain ratings at intake and closure differ by characteristics of parents and children; and (2) whether reunification is predicted by NCFAS-R score at closure.     

Court-ordered foster family care reform: a case study

The authors examine the implications of G. L. v. Zumwalt, a case that resulted in a far-reaching consent decree that mandates specific reforms in policy and practice to be implemented by a public social welfare agency in its delivery of services to foster children and their families.     

Supervising family therapy trainees in primary care medical settings: context matters

The purpose of this article is to identify and describe four essential skills for effective supervision of family therapy trainees in primary care medical settings. The supervision skills described include: (1) Understand medical culture; (2) Locate the trainee in the treatment system; (3) Investigate the biological/health issues; and (4) Be attentive to the self-of-the-therapist. Recommendations are also made to help supervisors become better prepared for the questions medical family therapy trainees bring to supervision.     

Foster family care review by judicial-citizen panels: an evaluation

The findings of this study are mixed. In general, after one year of judicial-citizen review, there is no clear indication that this alternative to internal case review has led to more positive outcomes for children in foster care. This finding should be heartening to public child welfare agency personnel whose motivation for accountability has been called into question by proponents of external foster care review. At least when compared with a new citizen review system, the already existing internal review system measured up quite well. Although the study did not indicate a clear pattern of more positive outcomes for the study group, there is evidence of some favorable characteristics of CRPs that may show promise for the future. With additional training in developing behaviorally measurable and time-limited parental objectives, citizen panels may be able to maintain some of their initial strength in this area. Increased involvement of juvenile court judges in cases where little or no progress is made could motivate some parents to meet specified objectives and speed up the process of terminating parental rights when no progress has been demonstrated within specified time periods. The data also indicate a need for some adjustment to the process used to involve parents in case reviews. Another potentially positive outcome was highlighted during interviews with the juvenile court judges and the DFCS staff in the three study counties. Many of these respondents believed that the process had the potential for moving children out of foster care more quickly than does the internal review process. In addition to this primary goal, however, respondents were excited about the potential for heightened community awareness and education as citizens come to understand more about the plight of foster children and family conditions that can lead to placement. Interviews with panel members themselves indicated a definite belief that the community needed to accept more responsibility for children in foster care. One panel member's comment reflects the general sentiment expressed by other respondents: "These are kids we used to call 'those kids,' but now they are 'our kids'." It is hoped that the judicial-citizen review process will help to create a community environment in which needed resources can be developed both to prevent placement and to provide more support for families and children when placement occurs. This is the sentiment of the three juvenile court judges and almost all DFCS staff members who were interviewed, when they asserted that they felt the CRP process should be continued and expanded statewide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Quality care for ill children: AIDS-specialized foster family homes

Children with AIDS and related complexes present a new and serious challenge to the child welfare field's foster care system. At this stage of the world's knowledge of AIDS and treatment capacity for its victims, the children are stigmatized as plague bearers, their viability is unknown, and few, if any, will ever have a home to return to. This article describes a special foster care demonstration in behalf of AIDS infants.     

Child care in an age of family differences

The importance of understanding America's day care needs has become a major issue in society today. Understanding these needs involves more than simply providing spaces for care. The uniqueness of each family's situation requires research into differing family expectations. This paper provides some insight into differences between single mothers and fathers in their utilization of child care.     

Long-term care policy and the American family

This article examines current and proposed long-term care policies and the social values of American families by looking at the influence of policy on family behavior. The analysis asks two questions. First, have our policies in recent years supported or undermined family values regarding the care of older members? Second, are our existing family values compatible with home and community-based long-term care reform proposals? Aaron, Mann, and Taylor's (1994) model for policy and changing values provides direction throughout. Findings based on behavior as a proxy for values suggest that current policies influence family values, and in turn, family values influence policies. Future policy is discussed in light of changed values, American family structure, dysfunctional families, individualism and collectivism, and gender neutrality and justice.     

Family resource management and family stress theories: Toward a conceptual integration

Integration of concepts and models from family resource management and family stress theories can provide a comprehensive view of the crisis and stress management process. This article (a) presents and discusses the ABCD-XYZ Resource Management Model of Crisis/Stress, (b) discusses the concepts of coping, resource management, and adaptation as they pertain to crisis and stress, (c) shows how interpersonal resource exchange theory can be used to conceptualize the concept of social support, and (d) suggests how concepts from family resource management can provide better insight into family crisis/stress. According to the ABCD-XYZ model, crisis/stress management involves (a) perceiving the stressor, the demands of the situation, and the available coping resources to formulate a definition of the crisis/stress situation, (b) cognitive coping and managerial decision-making to create, use, or combine coping resources, and (c) activating those decisions through adaptive coping and management behavior.The author wishes to thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions.David C. Dollahite is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412-5001. His research interests include family resource management, family stress, intergenerational transmission of values, and family storytelling. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.     

The family stress consultation team: an Illinois approach to protective services

An experimental, multidisciplinary approach to the handling of child abuse and neglect cases has proved particularly effective.     

Competence and African American children in informal kinship care: The role of family

African American children are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to live in kinship care, yet there is little empirical knowledge available to help understand the attributes of these families that contribute to children's development of competence. This study analyzed existing longitudinal data to explore the family-level factors that promote these children's competence. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that average quality of the biological mother's relationship with child, the quality of the biological father's relationship with child, and kinship care family functioning predicts children's average competence. Additionally, changes in family resources and family functioning over time are related to corresponding changes in children's competence levels. Results from this study highlight that African American informal kinship care families possess the strengths and resources that contribute to children's competence.     

Maternal stress,family and health care of twins: With two case summaries of infants who died during the course of the study

SUMMARY. The family and professional care of a sequential series of 84 pairs of twins was compared with the care of singleton infants matched by birth date alone and with singleton infants matched demographically. Twin babies received more health visitor, but less family doctor, care than singletons; though any additional support had disappeared after the first three months. The findings suggested that increased levels of anxiety and depression (self-assessed) in mothers of twins are not specific to twinning but related to the total demands of young children. Two babies died during the course of the study, both were twins, presented as cot deaths, and occurred in excessively stressed families. The findings of the confidential enquiries into both these deaths are presented.     

Mindfulness theory and professional family caregivers in long-term care facilities

This study utilized Ellen Langer's theory of mindfulness to better understand how individuals who work in nursing homes apply their professional knowledge to their personal lives within the context of nursing home family caregiving. Using a sample of 10 professional and 10 non-professional family caregivers (n = 20), qualitative and quantitative methods were used to compare levels of mindfulness and nursing home knowledge. Qualitative analysis revealed similar responses for both types of caregivers in three out of four attributes of mindfulness. This indicates that being a family caregiver of an institutionalized parent is novel for both professional and non-professional caregivers. Narrative data indicates professionals were more mindful than non-professionals when using their nursing home knowledge to approach staff in a non-confrontational manner. Professionals were also more accepting of care-related problems than non-professionals.     

Injustice in family care of the Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

With increasing longevity, family care of the Chinese elderly in Hong Kong is evolving as a "caring trap" for female caregivers, especially unmarried daughters. Despite this, as Hong Kong is still a patriarchal Chinese society, most of the major decisions affecting the destiny of frail elders are made by sons or other male members of the family. The unequal gender roles, obligations, and division of caregiving responsibilities within the Chinese family and their effects on the caring relationship are discussed. Implications of this injustice based on gender regarding family care of the elderly and the possibility of its elimination are examined.     

Predictors of running away from family foster care

Running away is a frequent but little studied phenomenon among adolescents in foster care. Repeated running from care often leads to premature discharge and homelessness for youth. This article uses cumulative risk theory in the context of normative adolescent development to investigate predicators of running away from foster care. Results indicate risks stemming from individual, foster home, and child welfare system sources, which offer some insight for prevention and intervention.