Creating New Families is intended to reflect the practice of the specialist, multi-disciplinary Fostering and Adoption team in the Child and Family Department of the Tavistock Clinic. The team is ...firmly rooted in an approach which values inter-disciplinary working for the contribution which the thinking of each discipline makes to the overall endeavour with the child and family. It also places great importance on multi-agency collaboration, especially with social services and education, without which no intervention with this group of children can succeed. The book represents the differing ways in which members contribute to the work of the team, with individual and joint accounts by clinicians of the ways in which their therapeutic practice has evolved and about the theoretical thinking on which it is based.
•First peer-reviewed study on foster parents’ ACEs and their relation to foster children’s social-emotional challenges.•Eighty-nine foster parents completed the ACE Questionnaire and the Strengths ...and Difficulties Questionnaire.•Twenty percent of foster parents reported 4+ ACEs, compared to 12.5 % in the original CDC-Kaiser study.•Foster parents’ ACEs were directly related to children’s conduct problems and hyperactivity-inattention, but not to peer or prosocial problems.•Increased challenging behaviors among foster children were related to several specific foster parents’ ACEs, such as emotional abuse.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known risk factors for negative health and behavioral outcomes, including caregiving. Foster parents are key to supporting foster children, yet there is limited research on their ACE history and how it might relate to their foster children’s behavior.
This study addressed three research questions: (1) What are ACE totals in this sample of foster parents and how do they compare with the original CDC-Kaiser study? (2) Does foster parents’ ACE exposure relate to foster child behavior? (3) Is the relation between foster parents’ ACEs and children’s challenging behaviors different based on the specific ACE?
Participants were 89 foster parents (age M = 43.3 years) and 50 of their foster children (age M = 10 years) in central Texas. Children have been in their current placements for an average of 11 months (range 1 month to 4.7 years).
Foster parents completed demographics, the ACE Questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997).
Results showed over 40 % of foster parents in this sample reported 2+ ACEs and 20 % reported 4+ ACEs. Foster parents’ total ACEs related to foster children’s emotional problems (β = .27, p = .02), conduct problems (β = .28, p = .01), and hyperactivity-inattention (β = .25, p = .03). Certain ACEs related more strongly to child outcomes than others.
Foster parents may have a higher ACE exposure than the general population. Foster parents’ ACEs were associated with foster children’s challenging behaviors. Future research should investigate the mechanism of this connection.
Children in foster care are at risk for behavioral and emotional problems that require higher levels of care than other children. To meet these needs and reduce placement disruptions, foster parents ...require effective parenting skills. Although a number of training models have been evaluated, the findings on the efficacy of foster parent training (FPT) are mixed. We conducted a meta-analysis of the FPT outcome research from 1984 to 2014 to develop a clearer understanding of the impact of such trainings. Fifteen samples (16 studies) were identified that investigated the impact of FPT on self-reported parenting skills and knowledge and child problem behaviors. The mean effect size for child disruptive behavior using a random effects model was small but significant at −.20 (95% confidence interval CI = −.39, −.01, Z = 2.05, p < .05), suggesting that, on average, foster parents who were involved in the trainings reported fewer child behavior problems than parents who did not receive the training. The mean effect size for parenting was moderate and significant at .52 (95% CI = .22, .82, Z = 3.38, p < .05), indicating that, on average, parents in the treatment groups reported higher levels of skills and knowledge following training than did those in the control group. While these results are promising, more research is necessary to investigate the inconsistency in effect sizes across studies.
•Children and adolescents in foster care systems often receive combinations of psychotropic medication.•States are required to provide oversight of psychotropic medication usage with foster children ...and adolescents.•From sample of 128, twenty-one (16%) received both stimulants and antipsychotics.•Data show that less than 50% received stimulants alone before combined use.•Participants experienced limited changes in medication regimens even after receiving non-pharmacological services.
Consistent with federal requirements for states to monitor psychotropic medication use in foster children and adolescents, we assessed prescribers’ adherence to best practice guidelines. Specifically, we identified the prevalence and patterns of combined use of stimulants and antipsychotics among a sample of foster children and adolescents that received additional non-pharmacological interventions from a state-funded team. A secondary purpose of this paper was to demonstrate a method for monitoring psychotropic medication use for this vulnerable population.
Using data from a state Medicaid database and a state-funded team, we tracked medication use among a sample of 128 foster children and adolescents aged 5–19 years with varying diagnoses who received behavioral and medication review services. We extracted data for children and adolescents who received the combination of stimulants and antipsychotics, and then we visually depicted the data to show changes in medication use before, during, and after our services.
Out of the larger sample, twenty-one foster children and adolescents (16%) simultaneously received stimulants and antipsychotics. Visual depictions of data show that less than 50% received stimulants alone before combined use. In addition, participants experienced limited changes in medication regimens even after receiving non-pharmacological services.
These findings suggest that prescribers may not adhere to practice guidelines for use of stimulants and antipsychotics, even for clients who receive other services, and highlight the need for relevant stakeholders to monitor unsafe prescribing practices.
Kinship Care Elaine Farmer, Sue Moyers
2008, 2008-05-15
eBook
Children are frequently cared for by relatives and friends when parents, for whatever reason, are unable to care for their children themselves. Yet there has been very little information about how ...well children do when placed with kin or how safe they are in these placements. This book compares formal kinship care to traditional foster placements in order to ascertain which children are placed with kin, in what circumstances, how well such children progress, and how often these placements disrupt. The authors explore whether children placed with family and friends fare better or worse than other foster children, what services are provided and needed, and how kin care is experienced by carers, children and social workers. This book will be essential reading for social workers, policy makers, students and all those working with looked-after children, and will enable local authorities to make informed decisions about where best to place children and the support needed by family and friend carers.
•Results from a latent profile analysis indicated three subpopulations of foster parents.•Differences between groups were noted in scores on burnout, social support, training usefulness, and ...satisfaction.•Differences among group make-up were noted for foster parent race and youth behavioral problems.•Foster parent profiles showed significant differences in turnover and placement disruption risk.
Foster parents serve a critical role in child welfare systems. However, foster parents express dissatisfaction in their roles as caregivers, thus impacting placement stability. Placement disruption has many negative impacts on foster youth including delayed permanency, increased behavioral symptoms, and negative educational outcomes. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, this survey study collected data from 362 foster parents in six states. Results from a latent profile analysis indicated a three-profile solution was found, representing three subpopulations of foster parents, subsequently named Resourceful, Strained, and Disadvantaged Foster Parents. Differences between groups on indicators were noted in scores on burnout, secondary-traumatic stress, social support, thoughts on training usefulness, and foster parent satisfaction. Added covariates showed significant differences among group make-up on foster youth behavioral issues, and foster parent race. Foster parent profiles were explored in relation to intention to turnover and disrupt current foster youth placement. There were significant differences across all profiles on turnover and placement disruption intent. These findings give insight into the training and support needs of foster parents.
From 1870 until after World War I, reformers led an effort to place children from orphanages, asylums, and children's homes with farming families. The farmers received free labor in return for ...providing room and board. Reformers, meanwhile, believed children learned lessons in family life, citizenry, and work habits that institutions simply could not provide. Drawing on institution records, correspondence from children and placement families, and state reports, Megan Birk scrutinizes how the farm system developed--and how the children involved may have become some of America's last indentured laborers. Between 1850 and 1900, up to one-third of farm homes contained children from outside the family. Birk reveals how the nostalgia attached to misplaced perceptions about healthy, family-based labor masked the realities of abuse, overwork, and loveless upbringings endemic in the system. She also considers how rural people cared for their own children while being bombarded with dependents from elsewhere. Finally, Birk traces how the ills associated with rural placement eventually forced reformers to transition to a system of paid foster care, adoptions, and family preservation.
Foster care is one of the most far-reaching interventions targeted at children who are abused or neglected by their parents, or who are engaged in anti-social behavior (Lindquist & Santavirta, 2014). ...The large number of children in foster care and the high cost of child welfare, makes the outcomes of former foster youth a trending topic in research. However, research that combines results on different extents (education, employment, wages, housing, mental health, substance abuse and criminality) is sparse. Using the PRISMA method, the outcomes of 32 original quantitative studies were compared. The studies were categorized into two groups reflecting on the child welfare orientation of the country: child protection vs. family service (Gilbert, Parton, & Skivenes, 2011). The results are clear as well as troubling. In both systems, children who leave care continue to struggle on all areas (education, employment, income, housing, health, substance abuse and criminal involvement) compared to their peers from the general population. A stable foster care placement, establishing a foothold in education and having a steady figure (mentor) who supports youth after they age out of care seem to be important factors to improve the outcomes.
•Using the PRISMA method, the outcomes of 32 quantitative studies were compared.•The studies were categorized in child protection vs. family service systems.•Outcomes of foster youth are troubling on all domains, in both systems.•Having a steady homebase and establishing a foothold in education is most important.•Having a steady mentor, who gives support when needed is a protecting factor.
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