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For centuries, residential child and youth care systems worldwide have provided homes for vulnerable children and adolescents. The implementation of children's rights, especially the right of participation, is assessed as an important base for promoting the best interests of the child in an out-of-home care environment.
Featuring contributions from distinguished international authors, this volume offers an in-depth understanding of crucial participation processes and underlying power structures when involving young people in decision-making about their care and everyday life in different…
Autistic children's experiences of COVID-19 have been largely absent from current crisis and recovery discourse. This is the first published study to directly and specifically involve autistic children both as research advisors and as research participants in a rights-based participatory study relating to the pandemic.
This study explores the lived experiences of care leavers in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 has undoubtedly been difficult for many groups, care leavers are among those who may have faced additional pressures during this period. International evidence suggests that under normal conditions care leavers may already face more difficulties in relation to accommodation, employment, health, and wellbeing as well as facing increased risks of social isolation. A small number of studies examining various aspects of care leavers’ experiences during COVID-19 in other jurisdictions…
Abstract
A subset of young people in state care will remain in care until they reach the age of majority in their country, at which point they are said to “age out” of the care system. These young people are understood to be facing additional hardships in the transition to adulthood by virtue of their potentially reduced social capital and, thus, smaller personal safety nets. This group has been the subject of some study, particularly outcomes research, to better understand this transition. However, a recurring critique of the field is the lack of theorizing about the transition out of…
Abstract
A strong rationale for the collective participation of young people in care regarding decisions related to their care experience is evident in literature and statutory reports. However international research demonstrates challenges relating to participation in the childcare system. This includes context specific factors relating to issues in the field of child protection and welfare, along with more universal challenges such as access and diversity of representation, the imposition of adult formats and agendas and limits to the level of influence achieved. This paper reflects on…
Abstract
It is widely recognised that young people in care and care leavers may find challenges in accessing necessary social support. Their potential support network may be adversely affected by the issues behind their being originally admitted to care, and by later experiences during their time in care and after they leave care. In this article, we explore how relationships in the workplace may be an important source of support for some care experienced young people. Such support may assist their progress in the workplace and more widely. Drawing on a study of 22 young adults who left…
This Podcast series explores the experiences of people who grew up in the care system from all over the world. It is presented by a care-leaver Thomas Mongan and an Advocate Peter Lane. It is produced by Empowering People in Care (EPIC), an Irish Advocacy and Participation Charity. The Podcast aims to raise awareness and fight stigma by giving a platform to people who know the most about the care-system: the people who experienced it first hand.
Abstract
The prospects for young people in care and care leavers in the worlds of education and work may often seem bleak. The challenges they face in education are widely covered in this book. In the world of work, the picture is also difficult for care leavers. Youth unemployment, generally, is a major challenge across the globe, with its risk greatest for marginalised groups such as care leavers. This conceptual chapter from the book Education in Out-of-Home Care…
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Research examining the low educational attainment of children in care and care leavers tends to under-use social theory (Berridge, 2007). To contribute to addressing this gap, we use life course theory to explore the role of agency in shaping the educational pathways of 18 Irish adults (aged 24–36 years) with care experience. Findings suggest that agency is a valuable conceptual tool for examining the nuance and complexity of how individual actions shape the education of care-experienced adults throughout the life course and interact with contextual and structural factors over…
Abstract
This paper focuses on qualitative findings on how young people in long-term foster care in Ireland interpret permanence and stability. We focus principally on subjective and relational permanence, emphasising the significance of these concepts for social work, while extending some conceptual approaches to permanence. Importantly, findings from this study highlight conceptual gaps in how permanence and stability are conceptualised in research and we outline an approach which more fully embraces the multi-dimensionality of young people’s life experiences and emotions. Recent studies…