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Application of scientific findings to effective practice and informed policymaking is an aspiration for much research in the biomedical, behavioural, and developmental sciences. But too often translations of science to practice are conceptually narrow, ethically underspecified, and developed quickly as salves to an urgent problem. For developmental science, widely implemented parenting interventions are prime examples of technical translations from knowledge about the causes of children’s mental distress. Aiming to support family relationships and facilitate adaptive child development, these…
The Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia. It includes a cohort of all 4126 children and young people (age 0 to 17 years) who entered out-of-home care for the first time over an 18-month period from May 2010 to October 2011 in New South Wales, with a focus on 2828 of these…
Abstract:
Background
Approximately one in ten children globally live with kinship caregivers—relatives and family friends who step in to care for a child when parents are unable to do so. When families take on the role of informal kinship care—care of a child outside of the child welfare system—they often do so without financial assistance and advice in navigating the systems of support available to them. This is the unique role of kinship navigator programs in the U.S: to provide kinship caregivers a single point of entry for connecting to needed resources such as financial, health,…
Abstract:
This mixed-methods systematic review asks what is known about children’s perspectives on contact with birth parents when in out-of-home care. To address this question 37 studies were coded to identify children’s experiences and thoughts regarding contact with their parents. Data synthesis was performed in three stages. The frequency of the identified factors across all included research was determined and qualitative and quantitative syntheses were performed.
The results reveal that children hold thoughts and views on several aspects of contact with their birth…
Abstract:
Long-lasting, supportive relationships (also called “enduring relationships”) are important for youths’ transition to adulthood, but these relationships are often ruptured for young people in foster care. The authors investigate how common enduring relationships are among youth making the transition out of care and whether having an enduring relationship improves their outcomes in early adulthood. The study's sample includes 608 youths in California foster care participating in the longitudinal CalYOUTH Study.
The authors found that 48 percent of youth have an enduring…
Abstract:
Individuals with experiences of alternative care (AC; i.e., out-of-home care and institutional care) are at high risk for various mental health and relational problems stemming from exposure to serious attachment disruptions, loss, and complex trauma. Yet, despite the interpersonal context of their significant adversities, surprisingly there is scant research explicitly focusing on callousness/unemotionality (e.g., lack of guilt, callous disregard for others) in this population.
This paper provides the first conceptual model for, and systematic scoping review of,…
Highlights:
- New data show policy convergence among 15 ex-Soviet states in childcare deinstitutionalization.
- Countries adopted policies as ‘a package’ (goals + instruments), as promoted by international actors.
- Authoritarian states adopted the same policy instruments, as non-authoritarian states.
- Authoritarian states adopted ‘modern’, non-coercive policy instruments, based on the agentic individual.
- World culture and international advocacy appear key to childcare policy instrument choice.
This webinar was hosted by the Evidence for Impact Working Group of the Transforming Children’s Care Collaborative on March 30, 2023, and examined the Early Institutionalization Intervention Impact Project in Brazil.
The Early Institutionalization Intervention Impact Project's (EI-3) main goal is to document and compare the impacts that enhanced institutional care and enhanced foster care have on development during early childhood.
The EI-3 research project builds upon the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). Conducted in…
Abstract
Children and young people’s access to and engagement in education is a key determinant of future positive outcomes. Children and young people in out-of-home care disproportionally experience educational disruptions and disengagements affecting their ability to participate in schooling, further and higher education. There is increasing international interest in the participation of young people with lived experience of out-of-home (OOHC) in research projects.
This paper presents the findings of a study in the Australian state of Victoria where a group of lived experience…
Summary
This report presents the findings from a mixed-methods evaluation of peer parental advocacy (PPA) in the London Borough of Camden. PPA is a form of peer advocacy whereby parents with lived experience of child protection support other parents to navigate and engage with the process. Research evidence suggests that parents can find the child protection system to be difficult, stigmatising and authoritarian. Proponents of PPA suggest that it has the potential to promote shared decision-making, improve relationships between social services professionals and families, and enable…