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Care leavers are young people who have grown up in the care system, either in foster care or in residential care homes in transition from care to adulthood. They are a vulnerable group, with a high risk of negative outcomes such as poor mental health. The development of agency and the promotion of well-being are two of the most important aspects of the psychological and educational intervention with care leavers.
The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between agency and well-being in a group of care leavers (N = 48) recruited from the…
Abstract:
The main aim of this paper is to gain insight into the needs of youth who have left alternative care in the social welfare system. The study was conducted in Zagreb on a sample of sixteen young people. The needs of the study participants are: the need for contact with others, formal support, autonomy, housing and financial support, employment, learning practical skills, access to information, and the right to benefits such as (financial) relief. It has also been examined how participants cope with problems: positive self-direction and control of the situation, distraction…
This study aimed to investigate relational outcomes of Italian emancipated foster youth across open-ended reflections about their perceptions of their relationships with the biological and foster family, with partner and peers. A total of 26 Italian emancipated foster youth (19–25 years old) recruited by social services completed a single in-depth interview. A qualitative thematic analysis was selected for this study.
The results revealed two major themes of foster care experience that emerged often simultaneously from the participants’ narration:
(1) Positive Relational Outcomes…
Abstract:
Understanding the distinctive features of kinship and non-kin foster care has sparked research interest aimed at developing policies and programs. This study analyses 930 cases of fostered children (35.5% in non-kin foster care and 64.5% in kinship care) based on the information provided by child care professionals and the evaluations made by 221 foster carers (34.8% in non-kin foster care and 65.2% in kinship care) using different questionnaires.
Significant differences were obtained between kinship and non-kin foster care, indicating more favourable results on…
Abstract
Decision-making around foster care is a highly complex process, both because of the nature of the issues to be decided and because of the positive or negative implications it may have, mainly on the lives of the children, but also for foster carers and birth families. To focus research on decision-making is to go to the core of the child protection system. The aim of this article is to analyse the factors that intervene in decision-making by childcare professionals regarding non-kin foster care in the north-east of Spain, given that three services intervene throughout this…
Republic of North Macedonia in the last several years undergoes comprehensive social protection reform. The reform processes have been focused on furthering the processes of deinstitutionalization, decentralization and pluralization of social services delivery.
The transformation of social protection institutions has been one of the key priorities in this period, specifically out-of-family services for children. In this respect, alternative care services for children without parents and parental care has been strengthened and promoted. Foster care as a traditional form of protection has…
This article employs concepts from family sociology to explore how ‘family’ is conceptualised in 14 life narratives of young people in foster care in Spain.
The article draws on a multi-method approach with young people who are in long-term non-kinship foster care. Seven girls and seven boys aged 10 to 22 took part in the study.
The empirical material reveals an interplay between biological preference and foster family affective practices in young people's narratives, illuminating a struggle to make sense of the concept of family in foster care. Most of the participants understand…
Many children in non-kinship foster care maintain contact with their birth parents, although debate continues about whether or not, or under what circumstances, it is beneficial to the child. In this scoping review the authors analyze the findings of studies conducted over the past two decades that have specifically examined face-to-face contact with birth parents for children in non-kinship foster care, with the goal of…
The European Refugee and Migration Crisis went from very high numbers of daily arrivals and quick transit through the Balkans in 2015 to significantly reduced, but ongoing, arrivals and longer stays in Balkans countries in 2016 and 2017. After the EU–Turkey deal came into place in March 2016, over 18,000 children (more than 40% of all arrivals) from Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria have transited through the Balkans, making it the second most travelled migration route to Europe. Closed borders and limited legal options reinforced “irregular routes”, facilitated by smugglers and traffickers,…
Children need stable and safe relationships with caring adults to thrive, and such relationships are far more likely to be created in a family environment. Those growing up in alternative care have very often experienced significant trauma before being placed in care. Residential care, in particular, can expose them to all the risks associated with social exclusion if it is not equipped to give them the tailored support they need.
That is why it is important to know the proportion of children placed in residential care compared to those in placed in formal family-based care. This would…