Displaying 1 - 10 of 11
Abstract
There is growing interest in the development of evidence supporting therapeutic interventions in social work. Few examples, however, exist, of the use of validated instrumentation in measuring the impact of services upon children and families. We report here on the use of a suite of validated instruments to measure the impact of services on children and their parents in receipt of services provided by an Irish Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) across their seven family centres. The NGO engaged a team of university-based researchers who provided training in the use of validated…
Abstract
The focus of this collection is the promise of public health approaches to child protection and welfare systems development and delivery, and this chapter from the book Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children is a case study of what such an approach looks like in practice. It is built on the experience of a programme of action developed in the Republic of Ireland – the Programme for Prevention, Partnership and Family Support (PPFS) – that brings together a constellation of strategies that align well with a public…
Abstract
The paper presents findings from a study of centre-based supervised child-parent contact. The purpose of the research was twofold; to ascertain the views and experiences of birth fathers on all aspects of the supervised child-parent contact they experienced in a centre; to find out from centre supervisors their views of engaging fathers and supervising contact, and from key stakeholders and referral agents (a community project worker, a child protection social worker, Guardian ad Litems, a family law solicitor) their perceptions of the supervised contact provision in the centre.…
It is clear that the experiences and circumstances of parents in Ireland vary considerably. While some families may require universal supports, others may have more complex needs and require more tailored interventions. Parents without immediate family and kinship support networks, such as many of those with migration backgrounds, may become even more vulnerable and at risk of poverty (Millar et al., 2012). It is identified that while flexible packages of parental support tailored to parents’ needs can enable them to enhance their parenting skills, knowledge and familiarity with available…
The Health Information and Standards Directorate in Ireland's HIQA has launched a public consultation on Draft National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres. This consultation aims to gather the views of children living in residential care, their families and people involved in caring for children in residential care on the draft national standards. This feedback will be considered and will inform the development of the final National Standards.
The public consultation will run until 5pm on Thursday 02 November 2017.
Purpose and scope of the…
Abstract
Compared to children in other placements, there is much less known about the characteristics and needs of children in the UK who are returned to their birth parents with a care order still in place. That is in spite of evidence to suggest they face more difficulties than young people in other placements. Based on a 2009 census of looked after children in Northern Ireland, just under 10% (n = 193) were found to be living at home under a care order. Case file reviews were conducted for a quarter of these young people (n = 47) to generate descriptive statistics…
Abstract
The aim of this component of a preliminary cross-national study (Ireland and Catalonia) of care leavers' experience in the world of work is to explore how carers may influence the entry of young people in care into the world of work and how they may also influence the young people's progress in that world. A total of 22 care leavers, aged 23–33 years, were recruited on the basis of their having substantial employment experience since leaving care. Evidence from the interviews reveals the importance of the role of carers in the work-related progression of the young care leavers,…
Although a widely-accepted term in child welfare discourses, there remains a vagueness as to what Family Support as a named orientation in children and family services entails. This lack of clarity is, at times, used to detract from its usefulness within the policy and practice arena. Using the accumulated wisdom of a select group of accomplished managers, academics and policy makers in social work and social care, this paper retrospectively reviews the evolution of Family Support within the Irish context and distils the core characteristics of Family Support practice and service delivery. An…
Background
Child conduct problems are a major public health priority. Group-based parenting programmes are popular in addressing such problems, but evidence for their longer-term effectiveness is limited. Moreover, process evaluations are rare and little is understood about the key facilitative and inhibitive factors associated with maintaining outcomes in the longer term.
Method
This study involved the use of qualitative methods as part of a larger process evaluation to explore the longer-term experiences of parents who participated in a randomized…
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.
This fascinating paper provides a brief overview of the looked after system in the UK and the equivalent care system in Ireland…