Relative foster care: An emerging trend in foster care placement policy and practice

Abstract

Increases in the foster child population, at a time when terminations in foster care placement have decreased along with a decline in the number of non‐related foster parents, has resulted in an increasing use of relative foster care placement. Relative care as an emerging trend in foster care placement, is not without controversy. Its merits, however, should be assessed in terms of its benefits to the children in care, the fiscal and organizational costs, and the problems it creates for the child welfare system. This paper reviews what is known about the characteristics of relative caregivers and the children in their care. Federal and state policies that affect the use of relatives as an alternative placement resource for children are described. The available data regarding the length of time in placement, number of placements, physical, mental health and educational and permanency outcomes for children placed with relatives are discussed. Implications for practice are drawn and areas for further research are suggested.     

Languages of reciprocity and conflict : A further response to Richard price

Jean Comaroff, Body of Power, Spirit of Resistance. The Culture and History of a South African People (1985), xii + 296 (The University of Chicago Press, £29.75, paperback £13.95).     

Family leave policy and child mortality: Evidence from 19 OECD countries from 1969 to 2010

This study examined the effects of family leave policy on five age‐specific child mortality rates across 19 Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries from 1969 to 2010. I used the dataset developed by Ruhm and Tanaka and extended it with data from various institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. I controlled for six relevant variables including GDP per capita and health expenditures, three child health indicators, as well as three social expenditure measures for families. I included in all models country and year fixed effects as well as country‐time trend interactions. Throughout all model specifications, the results indicated that job‐protected paid leave significantly reduces infant mortality (death at less than 1 year of age) and postneonatal mortality (death between 1 month and 1 year of age). Other leave (unpaid or nonjob protected) had no significant effects on any of the outcome indicators.     

Paternal and Maternal Experiences in Caring for Chinese Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Hong Kong

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study that (i) identified parental stress and competence, parents’ perception of their children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and the parent‐child relationship in caring for children with ADHD; (ii) compared paternal and maternal experiences in these areas; and (iii) examined the effect of children's ADHD behavior on paternal and maternal experiences in Hong Kong Chinese parents. Seventy‐two (59.5%) mothers and 49 (40.5%) fathers participated in the study, in which data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that: (i) mothers’ level of parental stress was higher than fathers’, but paternal and maternal competence in child‐rearing did not significantly vary; (ii) mothers perceived the child's ADHD behavior more seriously than fathers; (iii) both mothers and fathers had positive perceptions of their parent‐child relationship; and (iv) gender, employment, ADHD symptoms, and parental satisfaction explained the significant variance in parental stress but did not explain the significant variance in parental competence. Implications for social work practice and service development are discussed.     

Obtaining least absolute value estimates for a two-way classification model

The importance of the two-way classification model is well known, but the standard method of analysis is least squares. Often, the data of the model calls for a more robust estimation technique. This paper demonstrates the equivalence between the problem of obtaining least absolute value estimates for the two-way classification model and a capacitated transportation problem. A special purpose primal algorithm is developed to provide the least absolute value estimates. A computational comparison is made between an implementation of this specialized algorithm and a standard capacitated transportation code.     

Psychoanalytic theory,child sexual abuse and clinical social work

This paper is dedicated to the memory of my friend and colleague, Andrew Schauer.     

Shaping ethics: youth workers matter

The authors propose that youth workers and educators committed to informing and shaping the ethical understandings of young people first need to explore and become aware of their own ethics. This requires front-line staff and caregivers to critically reflect on the impact their day-to-day choices and decisions have on youth. Once they become clearer about their own ethics and the consequences of their decisions, youth workers are then in a position to promote opportunities for youth to make ethical choices. The authors use observations and ideas from their experiences with the Minnesota Youth Work Institute. Their overarching aim is to promote ethical congruence between what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is practiced in daily work with youth.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Adoptive Parents and International Adoptees: From the Perspectives of Cross-Cultural Communication and Adaptation

Existing studies demonstrate that the identity formation of internationally adopted children and the adjustments of adoptive families reside in the processes of cross-cultural and intercultural communication. However, there have been few studies on international adoption from the perspectives of intercultural and cross-cultural communication. Following a previous qualitative study on the experiences of adult international adoptees, this project employs a quantitative method to examine the ongoing (before, during, and after adoption) cross-cultural adaptation and identity formation of international adoptees from the perspectives of adoptive parents. The findings of the study have identified the key issues involved in the cross-cultural adaptation process and discussed experiences of adoptive families for dealing with those issues.