Displaying 1 - 10 of 15
Abstract
This study aims to advance understanding of social workers’ perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions. This retrospective study involved thematic analyses of one focus group (n = 7) and semi-structured individual interviews (n = 12). Participants included social work professionals with experience providing welfare services for CwDs and their families. In effort to prevent separation of CwDs from their families, results suggest a need for continued monitoring of…
Abstract
This study aims to advance understanding of social workers’ perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions. This retrospective study involved thematic analyses of one focus group (n = 7) and semi-structured individual interviews (n = 12). Participants included social work professionals with experience providing welfare services for CwDs and their families. In effort to prevent separation of CwDs from their families, results suggest a need for continued monitoring of…
Abstract
The education of children in care is seen differently by teachers, caregivers in residential homes, and by the children themselves, and differences may be evident and highly significant with the impact that this entails. A pilot project aimed at improving the school-based learning of children in residential care was conducted within the framework of a European Project together with 5 Organizations working in Austria, Croatia, France, Germany and Spain. Program assessment included pre-post design and, on analysing pretest data, we established the objective of finding out more about…
Abstract
This article is written as part of the FORUM project (FOR Unaccompanied Minors: transfer of knowledge for professionals to increase foster care), an EU funded project which sought to enhance the capacity of professionals to provide quality foster care for unaccompanied migrant children, primarily through the transfer of knowledge. The article aims to contribute to this transfer of knowledge by bringing together literature which is of relevance to professionals developing or enhancing foster care services for unaccompanied migrant children (such as social workers), other…
The Opening Doors 2018 country factsheets provide an update about the progress with the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care (also known as deinstitutionalisation). The new generation of country snapshots covers 12 EU Member States, 2 EU pre-accession and 2 EU neighbouring countries. This factsheet highlights the developments and challenges still ahead in Croatia and offers key recommendations to the EU and the national government to ensure that children are cared for in family-based settings.
Abstract
Foster care is a form of care for children who can’t receive appropriate care in their primary family. It’s an alternative to institutional care for children and its advantage is the family environment. The aim of this research was to gain an insight into experiences of Roma foster parents (N = 7) with providing foster care in Roma settlements. The results of this research show that Roma foster parents decided to become foster care providers because of their desire to provide an appropriate care for children, the existence of conditions for providing foster care and their…
In the period from 2011 to 2017, there was a fluctuating yet notable increase of unaccompanied minors transiting through Croatia. The 2015 and 2016 events involving the Balkan corridor included a significant number of unaccompanied and separated children, who count as vulnerable groups of refugees and migrants. State policies and measures aimed at providing care and protection to these groups include mechanisms of appointing special guardians, who are tasked with safeguarding their rights and providing general assistance within the system of care during their stay and/or during the status…
The goal of the research is to gain insight into the challenges of foster care for children with behavioral problems from the perspective of experts and their suggestions for improving foster care, with the purpose of identifying guidelines for the development of specialized foster care and protect the welfare of children with behavioral problems. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (N = 7), and as a method of processing the data collected an analysis of the thematic framework was used. Results show that from the perspective of experts the main problems of practice in a…
Abstract
Summary This research examined psychological and background correlates of bullying in adolescent residential care. Young people aged 11–21 (N = 601) from 22 residential institutions in Croatia completed an anonymous self-reported bullying questionnaire, the Basic Empathy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Big Five Personality Inventory.
Findings The results demonstrated that both male and female bullies tend to be disagreeable, careless, neurotic, likely to hold attitudes approving of bullying, and likely to bully…
This paper examines the benefits and challenges of de-institutionalizing disability residential services in Croatia through Open Society Foundation’s Mental Health Initiative (MHI). The MHI established a partnership with The Association for Promoting Inclusion (API) and advocated for the replacement of long-stay institutions with community-based alternatives. This document describes how API used Croatian law to develop a program that provided services to the community. Once services began, API advocated for the de-institutionalization of children with intellectual disabilities and…