Children with disabilities in out-of-home care: Perspectives on organisational collaborations

Many contemporary support services for children and young people (CYP) in out-of-home-care have adopted a collaborative approach to service provision in order to best meet the complex needs of clients. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the perceptions of Evolve Behaviour Support Services (EBSS) frontline and managerial staff delivering services to CYP in out-of-home-care with disability and complex behaviours regarding interagency/stakeholder collaboration. Views about the number and nature of collaborative partnerships, factors which facilitate or hinder effective relationships and advantages (including unintended benefits) of collaboration were sought. Qualitative interviews with 21 participants highlighted issues around: (1) general and agency/stakeholder specific issues and barriers, and (2) benefits of collaboration. The collaborative approach to service provision was seen as greatly enhancing the effectiveness of EBSS' response and ability to meet the range of CYP's complex needs, as well as having benefits for carers and service providers. Nevertheless, difficulties with collaboration were also encountered. Frequently identified challenges included reduced stakeholder engagement, differences in professional backgrounds and practice frameworks, unequal initiation of contact and follow-up, organisational disparities, communication and information sharing problems, frequent stakeholder turnover and geographical barriers in rural/remote areas.