The Importance Of Education For Children In Out Of Home Care

This book draws together for the first time some of the most important international policy practice and research relating to education in out-of-home care. It addresses the knowledge gap around how good learning experiences can enrich and add enjoyment to the lives of children and young people as they grow and develop. Through its ecological-development lens it focuses sharply on the experience of learning from early childhood to tertiary education. It offers empirical insights and best practices examples of learning and caregiving contexts with children and young people in formal learning settings, at home and in the community. This book is highly relevant for education and training programs in pedagogy, psychology, social work, youth work, residential care, foster care and kinship care along with early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary education courses.

This book draws together for the first time some of the most important international policy practice and research relating to education in out-of-home care. It addresses the knowledge gap around how good learning experiences can enrich and add enjoyment to the lives of children and young people as they grow and develop. Through its ecological-development lens it focuses sharply on the experience of learning from early childhood to tertiary education. It offers empirical insights and best practices examples of learning and caregiving contexts with children and young people in formal learning settings, at home and in the community. This book is highly relevant for education and training programs in pedagogy, psychology, social work, youth work, residential care, foster care and kinship care along with early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary education courses.

Children in out-of-home care (OHC) have higher risks for developing poorer health and school achievement, being subjected to more abuse experiences, as well as negative long-term outcomes related to occupational performance, socioeconomic status, addiction, and criminality. Research related to OHC children is fragmented and the effects of interventions are under-studied. This thesis aimed to explore health, abuse, support, and preconditions for school among children in OHC and to assess changes after an intervention targeting foster children’s school performance. Paper I compared OHC pupils in last year high school to non-OHC peers in a national survey with 5 839 pupils. The study showed that risks of abuse and poor mental health are evident for adolescents in out-of-home care. Also, results indicated a lower disclosure rate of sexual abuse, particularly to police or social services. Paper II compared OHC pupils to peers in birth parent care by analyzing responses in four consecutive year surveys in a regional sample comprising 23 798 pupils in 8th-year compulsory and 2nd-year high school. Responses from the 311 pupils in OHC showed poorer outcomes than did birth-parent care peers in perceived satisfaction with social life and relations, trust to other persons in different relations, abuse experiences online, and sense of security in the school and at home. These results also applied when compared to a subset of pupils living with a single birth parent. Paper III analyzed prospective test and questionnaire data of intelligence, adaptive behavior, mathematics, literacy skills, and psychosocial wellbeing from 856 children in foster care. Results revealed poorer preconditions for school performance of between 0.5 and 1.0 standard deviations below age-standardized norms. The analysis also provided results regarding different intelligence domains, where working memory showed the lowest scores while perceptual functioning were close to norms. Boys generally scored poorer than girls except in mathematics. Paper IV explored the effects of a school-based intervention, Skolfam, on a subset of Paper III cohort (n= 475). Results showed improved skills in higher-order cognitive executive functions such as reading comprehension, sentence chains, mathematics, and intelligence. For less complex cognitive functions, affective functioning or psychosocial symptoms, no improvements were seen, except for reduced hyperactivity. Conclusion: The studies confirm that children in OHC have poorer mental health, are less satisfied with social life, have more adverse experiences both online and in real life and have poorer preconditions for school performance than do non-OHC peers. Importantly, Skolfam intervention can partially enhance preconditions for school performance. Further studies on longitudinal risk, with a design to identify specific protective factors, development of school-related competencies and ways to support OHC children in school are needed. Barn i social heldygnsvård har som grupp högre risker för att utveckla sämre hälsa och skolresultat, vara mer utsatta för övergrepp samt ha sämre långtidsutsikter relaterat till arbetsmarknad, socioekonomisk status, drogberoende och kriminalitet. Forskning om barn i social heldygnsvård är ofta fragmenterad och effekter av olika interventioner är sparsamt utvärderade. Syftet med avhandlingen var att utforska hälsa, stöd, övergrepp och förutsättningar för skola för barn i social heldygnsvård, samt att bedöma hur förutsättningar för skolprestation förändras genom en intervention som inriktas mot skolresultat för barn i familjehem. Artikel I jämförde samhällsvårdade studenter i tredje året på gymnasiet med icke samhällsvårdade jämnåriga studenter. 5 839 elever besvarade en nationell enkät. Resultatet visade att risker för övergrepp och sämre psykisk hälsa var mer frekvent för ungdomar i samhällsvård. Dessutom var andelen som berättar om övergrepp lägre bland de samhällsvårdade ungdomarna, i synnerhet till polis och socialtjänst. Artikel II jämförde samhällsvårdade elever med jämnåriga som bor med föräldrar, genom att analysera svaren från fyra på varandra följande års enkäter i ett regionalt urval som omfattade 23 798 elever från grundskolans åttonde och gymnasieskolans andra år. Svaren från de 311 eleverna i samhällsvård visade sämre utfall än icke samhällsvårdade i upplevd tillfredsställelse med socialt liv och relationer, tillit till andra personer i olika relationer, erfarenhet av nätövergrepp, samt upplevd säkerhet såväl i skolan som i hemmet, även i jämförelse med en undergrupp av studenter som bor med bara en förälder. Artikel III analyserade test- och formulärdata av intelligens, adaptivt beteende, matematik, läsfärdigheter och psykosocialt mående av 856 barn i familjehem. Resultaten visade sämre förutsättningar för skolprestation mellan 0.5 och 1.0 standardavvikelser under åldersstandardiserade normer. I analysen från olika domäner av intelligens, visade arbetsminne de lägsta resultaten, medan perceptuell funktion visade sig ligga nära medelvärdet från normeringsstudier. Pojkar hade generellt lägre poäng än flickor, förutom i matematik. Artikel IV undersökte effekter av en skolbaserad intervention, från ett antal elever från Skolfam kohorten (n = 475). Resultaten visade förbättrade färdigheter i högre exekutiva funktioner som läsförståelse, meningskedjor, matematik, samt intelligens efter intervention. För mindre komplexa kognitiva funktioner, affektiv funktion eller psykosomatiska symptom noterades inga förändringar, med undantag för lägre hyperaktivitet. Slutsatserna från dessa studier bekräftar bilden av att barn i samhällsvård har sämre psykisk hälsa, är mindre tillfreds med sitt sociala liv, har mer erfarenheter av övergrepp såväl på nätet som i verkliga livet och har sämre förutsättningar för skolresultat än sina icke samhällsvårdade jämnåriga. Ett viktigt bidrag är att interventionen Skolfam till del kan stärka förutsättningar för bättre skolprestation. Fortsatta studier av longitudinella risker, med möjlighet att identifiera specifika skyddsfaktorer, modeller för att utveckla skolrelaterade kompetenser och sätt att ytterligare stödja barn i samhällsvård behövs.

This important new book critically examines the complex policy and practice issues surrounding child protection, including the impact of theoretical orientations, contemporary debates, policy initiatives and research findings, and maintains an emphasis on the ethics and values underpinning child welfare interventions. The book introduces policies that are central to understanding the position and needs of children and young people, and how policy and practice have been influenced by developments including the children’s rights agenda. It also explores the most significant issues in child welfare. These include: the experience of maltreatment by children, the systems of child protection to safeguard them, the methods and challenges of risk assessment, and the wide range of policy and therapeutic interventions to respond to children’s needs. The book also examines family support to promote children’s wellbeing before considering provision for children and young people who are looked after in out-of-home care. There is also a final section that focuses on best practice in communicating and working with children and young people, drawing on participatory, rights-oriented and resilience-based approaches, and supporting foster and adoptive carers and biological parents. Contributing in a substantive and clear manner to a growing international conversation about the present function and future directions for child welfare in contemporary societies, this textbook will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate social work students and those from allied disciplines, and professionals who are engaged in child welfare services.

How do workers around the world balance risk and support to ensure that their practice meets the ever-changing needs of children and their families? Renowned authors Marie Connolly and Kate Morris join forces to explore the frameworks and ideas which have shaped contemporary child and family welfare practice. From definitions of abuse to assessment models, they examine the knowledge base which lies at the heart of safe and effective statutory practice with children and families. Drawing on examples from a range of English-speaking jurisdictions, the book explores: - How to engage families, including participatory approaches and the role of the Family Group Conference - How to create positive out-of-home environments for children, discussing foster, kinship and residential care and adoption settings - How to improve professional decision-making through supervision and other organizational frameworks. At a time when child welfare systems across the globe are undergoing review, Understanding Child and Family Welfare provides a timely exploration of the reform agendas which will shape future practice. With sharp analytic insights into the difficulties and dilemmas which characterize this field, it is fundamental reading for all students studying child and family support or child protection, as well as for practitioners working within children and family settings.

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), which became law in 1997, elicited a major shift in federal policy and thinking toward child welfare, emphasizing children’s safety, permanency, and well-being over preserving their biological ties at all costs. The first edition of this volume was the earliest major social work textbook to map the field of child welfare after ASFA’s passage, detailing the practices, policies, programs, and research affected by the legislation’s new attitude toward care. This second edition highlights the continuously changing child welfare climate in the U.S., including content on the Fostering Connections Act of 2008. Gerald P. Mallon and Peg McCartt Hess have updated the text throughout, drawing from real world case examples, using data obtained from the national Child and Family Services Reviews and emerging empirically based practices. They have also added chapters addressing child welfare workforce issues, supervision, and research and evaluation. Divided into four sections—child and adolescent well-being, child and adolescent safety, permanency for children and adolescents, and systemic issues within services, policies, and programs—this newly edited volume provides a current understanding of family support and child protective services, risk assessment, substance and sexual abuse issues, domestic violence issues, guardianship, reunification, kinship and foster family care, adoption, and transitional living programs. Recognized scholars, practitioners, and policy makers also discuss meaningful engagement with families, particularly Latino families; health care for children and youth, including mental health care; effective practices with LGBT youth and their families; placement stability; foster parent recruitment and retention; and the challenges of working with immigrant children, youth, and families.