Parental competence and the welfare of the child: issues for those who work with parents with learning difficulties and their children. A response to Booth and Booth

The parental competence of parents with learning difficulties is discussed by Booth and Booth as if it was separable from consideration of the welfare of their children. The author responds by arguing that The Children Act 1989 requires a focus on the welfare of the child and any debate about parenting must take this into account. The Act also imposes a statutory duty on local authorities to promote the upbringing of children by their families. If parents with learning difficulties need help to carry out some of their parental responsibilities, they have the right to expect services which are sensitive to their needs. Their children, however, must also have rights to help, care and protection where this is needed, as other children have. The author argues for an integrated approach to work with parents with learning difficulties and their children, in which the welfare of the children is seen as the proper concern of all parties.     

Families formed as a result of donor insemination: the views of semen donors

This paper reports the views and feelings of semen donors at two London donor insemination (Dl) programmes regarding the recipients of Dl and the families created by this method. In particular it reports on: the types of recipients that donors wish to assist; their understanding of the legal position of donors and Di fathers; their views on the'matching' of donors and Dl fathers; their perception of Dl offspring's need or desire for information about the donor; their views on whether parents should tell their offspring about their Dl conception and regarding the secrecy surrounding Dl in general; and what they believe the community thinks about Dl. Overall, the donors perceive Dl families as being normal, and are very supportive of the autonomy and privacy of these families, but they also have concerns about the needs of the offspring. The authors draw attention to the need to take into account the views of donors in forming assisted reproduction policies, and also the need for the interests of the child to be paramount, as they are in the case of adoption.     

Understanding the experience of moving a loved one to a long-term care facility:family members' perspectives

This project was designed to develop an understanding of family members' experiences of moving a loved one to a long-term care facility and to identify ways in which facilities might help ease this process. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with family members who had recently moved a relative into one of three long-term care facilities in Southern Ontario, Canada. Several factors appeared to contribute to the overall experience of the move to long-term care and either served to impede or facilitate a positive transition for families. These factors included: the experience during the waiting process, preparation for the move, ease of the actual move, control over decisions, communication throughout the process, support from others, and family and resident perceptions and attitudes towards the move. Easing the difficult aspects of moving a loved one to a long-term care setting can be facilitated with better preparation and support from facilities and community services.     

The significance of a secure base: a psychosocial model of long-term foster care

ABSTRACT Long‐term foster care has been a much neglected area of social work practice and research. Yet there are obvious challenges that need to be understood when building a family for life in foster care. Is it possible for foster families, where there are no biological or legal ties between carers and children, to provide care, concern and family membership not only through childhood but also into adult life? The study on which this paper is based set out to explore that question by investigating the experiences of 40 adults, aged 18–30, who grew up in foster families. Qualitative interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed. Theoretical frameworks from attachment and resilience were brought together with concepts such as ‘belonging’ and ‘family membership’ to make sense of the narratives provided. An integrated and dynamic psychosocial model of long‐term foster care was developed, which emphasizes the significance of a secure base and has some important implications for practice.     

The Search For Stability and Permanence: Modelling the Pathways of Long-stay Looked After Children

This paper presents findings from a study of children lookedafter by 24 local authorities. It combines analysis of statisticaldata with analysis of qualitative and quantitative data froma questionnaire survey of a targeted sub-sample of childrenwho had been looked after for 4 years or more. The paper highlightsa complex picture of continuity and discontinuity in attemptsto achieve stability and permanence in a range of birth family,foster care, adoption, residential and leaving care placementsfor long-stay children. Some long-stay children are moving smoothlyand in a planned way towards a family for life, while some experiencelong periods in stable but temporary placements or have a numberof moves prior to finding stability and a sense of belonging.A further group of children experience stability or moves whilelooked after, without having a family to belong to when theymove into adult life. The paper discusses the difficulty withthe Government’s current long-stay performance measurein capturing the difference between stability in placement andplanned permanence for children and families.