Displaying 41 - 50 of 108
Abstract
Background: Routine screening to identify mental health problems in English looked-after children has been conducted since 2009 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Aims: To investigate the degree to which data collection achieves screening aims (identifying scale of problem, impacting on mental health) and the potential analytic value of the dataset. Method: Department for Education data (2009-2017) were used to examine: aggregate, population-level trends in SDQ scores in 4/5-16/17 year olds; representativeness of the SDQ sample; attrition in this sample.…
Abstract
Educational outcomes for Looked-After children on the autism spectrum are significantly poorer than for autistic children not being Looked-After by their local authority (those ‘in care’), and poorer than for most other groups of children with Special Educational Needs who are Looked-After in England. Such poor outcomes have led to calls for specific attention to be paid to the needs of autistic Looked-After children within the care of local authorities. There is also evidence that the numbers of autistic children being Looked-After by local authorities could be underrepresented…
Abstract
Looked After Children (LAC) are associated with poor outcomes, but they also demonstrate resilience and strength, particularly when placed in stable, supportive environments. Friendship is known to support resilience in children and adolescents and may be particularly useful to LAC, but there is limited research into LAC’s experiences of friendship. Objective: This thesis study aimed to explore what LAC value in their friendships in order to understand what support may help them gain the maximum benefits from these relationships. Design: Seven 11 to 16 year olds, living in foster…
This paper reviews the Healthy Young Minds (HYMs) program for looked after children in Tameside & Glossop, UK. The paper outlines the situation of children looked after my Tameside local authority and describes the services of HYMs, including the psychological framework and THRIVE model of service provision.
Background
Foster children have a high risk of mental disorders. This has contributed to increased international attention to service utilization for youth in foster care. The aim of this study is to examine whether youth in foster care receive services according to need, by using a multi-informant design.
Method
Detailed information on the type and frequency of service use during the last 2 years and on youth mental health were collected from foster youths and their carers in Norway (n = 405, aged 11–17 years) through online questionnaires. Mental health was assessed…
Abstract
This research investigated the prevalence of looked-after and adopted young people within a case file review of 185 young people referred to a UK gender identity development service over a 2-year period (1 April 2009 to 1 April 2011). Data were extracted from referral letters, clinical notes and clinician letters. Looked-after young people were found to represent 4.9% of referrals in this cohort, which is significantly higher than within the English general population (0.58%). Adopted young people represented 3.8% of referrals. In addition, the findings showed that looked-after…
Abstract
The study addresses the needs of Scottish kinship carers of teenage children who have been identified as being in need of extra support. It designs and tests an appropriate support programme, defined as CARE. The CARE intervention study reported here applied the Six Steps for Quality Intervention Development framework, a pragmatic, evidence-based framework. The Six Steps for Quality Intervention Development framework comprises six steps: the first three steps seek to reveal the concerns of the kinship carer group and to generate a theory of change; the remaining three steps…
Abstract
This chapter will critically examine the difficulties faced by young people who are looked after by local authorities in accessing mental health services and argue, based on findings of recent Serious Case Reviews that there has never been a more dangerous time to be a looked-after child. As recently as July 2015 the National Audit Office published data on care leavers. Only 8 of all the 151 Local Authorities knew where all their care leavers were living, suggesting that the government is failing in its corporate parenting responsibilities to the looked-after child. This chapter…
Abstract
Systematic reviews of the effect of foster care on mental-health outcomes have consistently indicated a zero-sum game, which makes it unclear whether the intervention is suitable for children in need of out-of-home placements. This thesis took on a meta-analytical approach to examine sources of heterogeneity between studies evaluating the effect of foster care on adaptive functioning, cognitive functioning, externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, and total problems behavior. The bulk of studies came from two recently published systematic reviews. The searches were…
Abstract
The significant mental health needs of young people in out-of-home care has been well-documented. However, there is little empirical evidence on the timing or development of these difficulties, once these young people have been removed from the maltreatment-environment. Such information may provide useful clinical insight in to how problems develop and persist and whether intervention timings may allow for the prevention of later mental health problems. The current service-data study explored the emotional and behavioural symptom trajectories of 207 young people under the long-…