Intensive oversight of youth residential treatment: Staff perspectives on the New York State Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs

Yvonne Smith & Lex Colletta - Child Abuse & Neglect

This study investigates staff perspectives on a new form of intensive oversight developed in New York State to prevent maltreatment of youth in care facilities.

Feasibility investigation: Leveraging smartphone technology in trauma and behavior management-informed training for foster caregivers

Alexandra Sullivan, Nicole Lafko Breslend, Jessica Strolin-Goltzman, Amy Bielawski-Branch, Jennifer Jorgenson, Abigail H. Deaver, Greg Forehand, Rex Forehand - Children and Youth Services Review

As technology enhancements effectively augment family-based interventions, the purpose of this study was to pilot a smartphone application (app) in the context of a trauma and behavior management-informed training for foster and kinship caregivers.

Cross-Ethnic Measurement Equivalence of the Children’s Depression Inventory Among Youth in Foster Care

Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen, Jamila E. Holcomb, Lenore M. McWey - Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

In the current study, the authors examined the factor structure of the Children’s Depression Inventory in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents in foster care in the US and examined the configural invariance of the measure across ethnic groups.

"Baby Factories": Exploitation of Women in Southern Nigeria

Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka & Akachi Odoemene - Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence

This paper examines the development and proliferation of baby-selling centers in southern Nigeria and its impacts on and implication for women in Nigeria. It demonstrates how an attempt to give protection to unwed pregnant girls has metamorphosed into “baby harvesting” and selling through the notorious “baby factories,” where young women are held captive and used like industrial machines for baby production.

File

Mental health screening for children in care using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Brief Assessment Checklists: Guidance from three national studies

Michael Tarren-Sweeney, Anouk Goemans, Anna Sophie Hahne, and Matthew Gieve - Developmental Child Welfare

The present article proposes a first-stage mental health screening procedure (calibrated for high sensitivity) for children and adolescents (ages 4–17) in alternative care, which children’s agencies can implement without clinical oversight using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Brief Assessment Checklists (BAC).

File

Fostering stability through ‘Fostering Connections: the Trauma-informed Foster Care Programme’

Maria Lotty - Foster, Issue 7

This article describes some of the research outcomes and the ongoing work of the research collaboration between University College Cork (UCC) and Tusla – Child and Family Agency which sought to make a contribution to fostering stability through applying the approach of traumainformed care.

File

Child trafficking victims and legal guardians: Exploring the fulfilment of the EU trafficking directive in the context of the UK modern Slavery Act 2015 – Best practice or not fit for purpose?

Amy Weatherburn & Yvonne Eloise Mellon - New Journal of European Criminal Law

This article will consider the extent to which the protection of child trafficking victims under the jurisdiction of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 is sufficient to fulfil the legal positive obligations imposed by EU Law.

Foster parents' needs, perceptions and satisfaction with foster parent training: A systematic literature review

Jannike Kaasbøll, Eva Lassemo, Veronika Paulsen, Line Melby, Solveig O. Osborg - Children and Youth Services Review

This current systematic literature review aims to examine what is known about foster parents' needs, satisfaction and perceptions of foster parent training.

Statement delivered to the Human Rights Council at the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child: Empowering children with disabilities for the enjoyment of their human rights, including through inclusive education

Child Rights Connect

Child Rights Connect delivered a written and oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council on 4 March 2019 at an event to promote the empowerment of children with disabilities to enjoy their full human rights, including through inclusive education. In the statement, Child Rights Connect says that children with disabilities "are much more likely to grow up in alternative care and face heightened risk of violence."

File

Exploring the Experiences of Child Welfare-Focused Therapeutic Service Providers

Marianna L. Colvin & Heather M. Thompson - The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research

The importance of mental and behavioral health for child welfare clients is well-documented; yet, little is known about the challenges therapeutic service providers (TSPs) experience working in child welfare practice. To explore this topic, five focus groups were conducted with 40 TSPs in a contracted mental and behavioral health agency and data were analyzed following an inductive thematic process.

The contribution of supervision orders and special guardianship to children’s lives and family justice

Professor Judith Harwin, Dr Bachar Alrouh, Ms Lily Golding, Ms Tricia McQuarrie, Professor Karen Broadhurst and Dr Linda Cusworth - Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University

This report is about the use of ‘family orders’ to support family reunification and placement with family and friends as outcomes of S31 care and supervision proceedings brought under the UK Children Act 1989. The over-arching aim of this study is to understand the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of these orders, and their use at national and regional level.

File

Educational pathways in and out of child and youth care. The importance of orientation frameworks that guide care leavers' actions along their educational pathway

Maria Groinig & Stephan Sting - Children and Youth Services Review

The increasing importance of higher levels of formal education and training leads to an extended transition phase to adulthood in Austria. This article explores how care leavers are confronted with new disadvantages and with a lack of political and societal attention.

Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents in Residential Care: Comparative Analysis of Youth Self-Report/Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Sónia Rodrigues, Maria Barbosa-Ducharne, Jorge F. Del Valle, Joana Campos - Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal

This study aims to analyze the comparative effectiveness of Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as screening tools of psychological (mal)adjustment, looking for differences in the way psychological problems and difficulties are identified by these two measures in adolescents in residential care (RC).

Young People’s Preparedness for Adult Life and Coping After Foster Care: A Systematic Review of Perceptions and Experiences in the Transition Period

Arja Häggman-Laitila, Pirkko Salokekkilä, Suyen Karki - Child & Youth Care Forum

This open access study aims to gather, assess and synthesize the current empirical evidence about subjective perceptions and experiences of former youth in foster care regarding their independent living during the transition to adulthood.

File

2019 Prevention Resource Guide

Children’s Bureau, Child Welfare Information Gateway, & FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention

The 2019 Prevention Resource Guide - created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention - is designed to help individuals and organizations in every community strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect.

File