Displaying 1 - 10 of 12
This study explores the state of kinship care in British Columbia (BC), Canada 10 years after the implementation of major policy reform designed by the provincial government to improve services to kinship caregivers. It arises from a community-based research project that included Parent Support Services (PSS), a charitable nonprofit organization that supports kinship caregivers in BC, and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC).
Two hundred participants were involved, including kinship caregivers and key informants. Data collection used surveys, focus groups, and interviews…
Abstract
Kinship foster care placements have become significantly more prevalent in both Canada and the United States. However, there are limited resources for child protection services (CPS) workers to assess the quality of the kinship caregiver placements. Although several measures exist to screen caregivers for general foster care, there are no instruments available for the assessment of quality in kinship foster care. Thus, the current study reexamined a kinship caregiver assessment using data from a study conducted at the Children and Family Research Center (CFRC). Inter-item and item…
Abstract
Background
A growing number of Canadian children live in the care of their grandparents, called skip-generation families. Reasons for this include teen pregnancy, death of a parent, mental/physical illnesses, and addictions. These grandparents and grandchildren are at increased risk of physical and mental illness, yet have few resources available to them.
Objective
Our study aims to describe the lived experiences of skip-generation families to better identify their needs.
Methods
We conducted semistructured interviews of grandparent primary caregivers from ten…
Abstract
The characteristics of children and their parents before placement in kinship care are poorly documented in the literature. The present exploratory study aimed to describe and profile the characteristics of children placed in kinship care and their mothers, as reported before placement. A latent class analysis performed on a cohort of 172 children aged 0-12 years and placed in kinship care revealed 3 distinct profiles. The first profile accounted for 25% of the whole cohort and is characterized by high rates of child functioning difficulties (ADHD, learning problem, mental health…
Abstract
First Nations communities are seeking to improve current service delivery models and create alternative evidence-based strategies. A First Nations child welfare organization has prioritized further understanding of reunification and parenting, including identification of successes and barriers to reunification, and service needs within communities. These priorities were addressed with a community-based participatory research model and guided by a Research Advisory. Results were analysed using a blend of grounded theory and thematic analysis techniques. Participants indicated that…
Abstract Many children are cared for on a full-time basis by relatives or adult friends, rather than their biological parents, and often in response to family crises. These kinship care arrangements have received increasing attention from the social science academy and social care professions. However, more information is needed on informal kinship care that is undertaken without official ratification by welfare agencies and often unsupported by the state. This article presents a comprehensive, narrative review of international, research literature on informal, kinship care to address this…
An exploratory case study design was used to identify the needs of kinship caregivers in northern British Columbia (BC). Interviews were conducted with 16 individual kinship caregivers and 11 of their social workers. Data was also gathered from reviews of the children’s and the birth parents’ files. Grandparents comprised the largest number of caregivers (7) and there was also one great-grandparent. Caregivers were between 37 and 68 years of age, and all primary caregivers were women. Many of the caregivers said that they were erroneously told the children would be in their home…
Abstract
This paper calls for creative pathways of engagement that delineate places of belonging for and with Indigenous youth in care. It draws on two community-based research studies conducted in British Columbia, with urban and off-reserve Indigenous youth to contextualize and extend understanding of permanency for Indigenous youth in care. Our discussion explores permanency in relation to both Western understandings of government care, guardianship, and adoptions, and Indigenous customary caregiving and cultural planning for cultural permanency, such as naming and coming home…
This article is part of a special edition of the journal Psychosocial Intervention (Volume 22 No.03 December 2013) focused on the state of child protection in a wide variety of countries with special attention to out-of-home care placements, principally family foster care and residential care, tough several aspects related to adoption were included as well.
The paper begins by suggesting that child welfare systems in North America and selected European and Scandinavian countries have converged…
This book features individual empirical studies on the outcomes and progress made for children in foster care around the world. The studies are organized into three parts. The first part, ‘Placement Movements and Destinations,’ includes studies from the United States, Netherlands, Spain and Australia on placement stability and reunification, among other topics. The second part, ‘The Foster Care Experience: A Life Course Perspective,’ includes studies from the UK and the US. And the final part, ‘Psychological Outcomes and Correlates of Outcomes,’ describes studies and research from the UK,…