Displaying 1 - 10 of 28
Abstract
This article explores the possibilities of a systemic approach in the support of parents whose children are placed in public care. The article is based on a qualitative study interviewing six parents who have received support from Norwegian Family Counselling Services (FCS) and seven systemic family therapists from FCS. Both groups were interviewed individually and in focus groups. The findings suggest that parents experienced less judgement from therapists in FCS than from caseworkers in CPS. Even if it could be challenging, the systemic therapists found a systemic approach…
Abstract: Child welfare-affected parents of color (CW-PaoC) are often described using language that is deficit-focused, their families depicted as fragile and living in a near constant state of crisis and need. This commentary challenges the stereotypes created by hyper-attention to these parents’ struggles and situates them, and their families, within the broader context of the American appetite for family separation, wherein specific types of families are targeted for scrutiny, intervention and regulation. The concept of fragility within families is dissected to illustrate the ways in which…
Abstract
This article describes the benefits of monthly family team meetings for parents involved with child welfare. Findings are shared from semi‐structured, qualitative interviews conducted with 17 parents whose children had been placed in substitute care. While much of the scholarship on family meetings focuses on opportunities for family voice, this study found that parents received multiple benefits from meetings including, but not limited to, the opportunity for input into decision‐making. Specifically, parents appreciated receiving information and feedback, encouragement, and a…
Abstract
Background
Social support can be an important buffer to stress to parents when their child has a disability. Parent to parent (P2P) is an evidence‐based peer support program for parents of children with disabilities, where support is provided over the telephone. However, younger parents may prefer electronic communication platforms.
Methods
This paper reports on the results of an online survey of P2P stakeholders regarding: How text‐based support is being used in P2P programs and whether text‐based support is perceived as providing benefits to parents of children with…
Abstract
Research focused on relationships and contact with birth family for children and young people who were separated from them as infants has rarely acknowledged the emotional and dynamic nature of such interactions. Curiosity has been dominant in adoption research. However, in our longitudinal study of young people who entered care at a young age, a range of other feelings and combination of feelings emerged in the youths’ narratives, including contentment and mixed feelings such as anger, affection, loss, guilt, or worry. Type of placement, that is, whether the young people had been…
Abstract
This secondary analysis involved exclusively parents with children placed in kinship care by a child welfare agency. It examined associations between parents’ receipt of needed services and 6 sets of variables measuring parents’ needs, access to service providers, social structural factors, demographic factors, family resources, and child welfare interventions experienced. The sample of 731 parents was extracted from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II. Data were analyzed using generalized least squares random-effects modeling. Analysis showed an association…
Abstract: Most countries operate procedures to safeguard children, including removal from parents in serious cases. In England, care applications and numbers have risen sharply, however, with wide variations not explained by levels of socio-economic deprivation alone. Drawing on extensive research, it is asserted that actuarial decision tools more accurately estimate risks to children and are needed to achieve consistency, transparency, and best outcomes for children. To date, however, child protection has not achieved gains made within comparable professions through statistical methods. The…
Abstract
Knowledge regarding the needs of parents whose children are placed in out-of-home care is still limited and studies focusing on interventions targeting this group are scarce. This article explores birth parents’ views on their needs and perceptions of support delivered by two different interventions: one offering support to individuals and the other providing a parental group. The methodology comprised a thematic analysis of 14 qualitative interviews. Parents’ expressed needs revolved around five issues: participation and influence in the relations with child welfare services;…
Abstract
Although psychotherapeutic treatment (e.g., counseling and therapy) is often offered to clients involved with child protective services (CPS), the existing literature includes few voices of mental health clinicians regarding their work and clients in the child welfare system. The current study seeks to address this gap by exploring clinicians’ views on the issue of child maltreatment and CPS-involved parents’ parenting. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed that clinicians acknowledged the strengths of CPS-involved parents as well as the challenges that may have…
Abstract
Parents play a critical role in the progression and outcomes of juvenile dependency (child welfare court) cases. Yet, very little is known about these parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences. We examined legal understanding and attitudes among 201 parents involved in ongoing dependency cases in California and Florida via semi-structured, in-person interviews. We expected parents’ understanding to be low and attitudes to be negative, particularly among parents of color and low SES parents. We expected greater dependency understanding to be related to more positive justice…