Displaying 1 - 10 of 3278
This article analyzes ethical issues arising in transreligious foster care placements in relation to foster children’s needs regarding religious socialization and identification. Applying Urban Walker’s expressive-collaborative framework to 30 qualitative interviews with foster parents, foster children, parents, and professionals, the authors elaborate and apply a three-level reflection on Christian foster parents’ ethics of care in everyday practice of foster care.
A first-level reflection demonstrates that integrating the foster child in the foster family often leads to predominant…
Abstract
Research suggests that children develop best in families, but millions currently reside in residential care centers. Many residential care centers have transitioned their programmes from a to a family care model. Using a mixed methods design, the current study examined (1) antecedents to transition, (2) key elements in the process and (3) outcomes of transitioning models of care. Participants included 39 non-government organizations that had fully or partially transitioned to family care. Programmes collectively served 12 325 children and 29 499 families in 22 countries…
Summary
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic priorities have focused on prevention, detection, and response. Beyond morbidity and mortality, pandemics carry secondary impacts, such as children orphaned or bereft of their caregivers. Such children often face adverse consequences, including poverty, abuse, and institutionalisation. We provide estimates for the magnitude of this problem resulting from COVID-19 and describe the need for resource allocation.
Methods: We used mortality and fertility data to model minimum estimates and rates of COVID-19-associated deaths of primary or secondary…
Abstract
Background
Media stories over the past decade have sensationalized cases of intercountry adoption discontinuity, a phenomenon largely missing from the research literature.
Objective
This study sought to understand how intercountry adoptees with adoption discontinuity histories experience legal, relational, and residential permanency losses through the framework of ambiguous loss and trauma.
Participants and setting
Twenty intercountry adoptees in the United States who experienced adoption discontinuity as minor children.
Methods
Participants were recruited…
Abstract
Foster care is a sensitive topic that requires representation of the best interests of children and families. The perspectives of foster children and foster families are under-researched and there is need for more knowledge in this area. Following a PRISMA guidelines, 24 articles were analyzed. The systematic review explores foster children’s and foster parents’ perceptions of factors related to a successful placement. Both children and foster parents emphasized the importance of inclusion in the decision-making process and a need for additional help from specialists. Findings…
This document compares three versions of the same home visiting model, aimed at improving parent-child interactions and child development: the well-known Jamaica model, which was gradually scaled up from an efficacy trial (‘proof of concept’) in Jamaica, to a pilot in Colombia, to an at-scale program in Peru. It first describes the design, implementation and impacts of these three programs. Then, it analyzes the threats to scalability in each of these experiences and discusses how they could have affected program outcomes, with a focus on three of the elements of the economic model…
Abstract
Background
The issues faced by young people transitioning out of government care are complex, and improving outcomes requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders (Lopez & Allen, 2007).
Objective, participants, and setting
In Vancouver, Western Canada, 60 agencies and 20 youth from government care are working in partnership using a collective impact approach to address the systemic issues and barriers to healthy development that youth from care experience.
Collective impact is an approach to tackling complex social problems which requires collaboration across…
Abstract
Trauma informed care (TIC) emphasizes the importance of professionals maintaining an emotionally regulated state. We interviewed eight staff members in a residential care unit for children and adolescents where TIC had been implemented, about situations wherein they experienced difficulty regulating their own emotions. We identified three major narratives in informants’ descriptions: (1) “Are we doing the right things?”, (2) “My childhood issues surfaced”, and (3) “Missing togetherness with trusted others.” The narratives illustrate the emotional strain that can be evoked when…
The authors of this study estimated the expected number of affected children for each COVID-19 death (the parental bereavement multiplier) in the U.S., enabling tracking of parental bereavement as the pandemic evolves. This article shares the results of that study.
ABSTRACT
Millions travel annually for short-term international service trips (STIST). These trips often involve volunteering with vulnerable children, including those in residential care (ex. orphanages). Though a prevalent practice, little research exists regarding how volunteers are prepared and what activities they engage in. The goal of the present study was to provide data on pre-trip preparation, in-country activities, and how these impacted volunteer perceptions of preparation and trip satisfaction. Participants (N = 353) answered questions about their experience with…