The Child's Journey Through Care
Placement Stability, Care Planning, and Achieving Permanency
1. Edition July 2006
304 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
The Care Standards Act 2000 in Britain resulted in national minimum standards for residential care, including children's homes and residential special schools. In light of these critical new reforms in child care, Children's Care Pathways provides the latest in child care research, from leading contributors with international reputations in the field. Divided into four sections, the book covers the developmental needs of children, children in need of foster care, residential and mixed care, and court proceedings. In addition to detailing the latest research on child care plans, the book also covers such practice issues as helping strategies, resource allocation, and the decision-making process.
This book focuses on children's journeys through the care system, from voluntary admission into care, through complicated and often long court proceedings, in pursuit of Care or Freeing Orders. Problems that arise from taking cases through the courts are examined, together with tensions that may arise between judicial and social work decision-making.
The Child's Journey Through Care discusses in full:
* the emotional and behavioural problems of looked-after children and elaborates on care-planning and helping strategies;
* children's rights whilst in State care and their participation in decision-making about their future, including preparation for appearances in court;
* the importance and ways of building new attachments and relationships with substitute carers, with emphases on resilience and children's strengths;
* pitfalls and successes when seeking permanency of care and emotional stability.
The book also includes considerations of the European Convention of Human Rights (1998) and describes many of the dilemmas arising in meeting the rights of children and parents, without jeopardising the welfare of either. The importance of openness, consideration, and straightforward dealings with parents is given due emphasis, especially where preparations for taking cases to court are involved.
The Child's Journey Through Care will be a valuable source of information for field and residential workers, social work supervisors, resource managers, policy makers, and those working in the legal profession.
About the Contributors.
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Section I The Need for a Good Start in Life - Attachment, Bonding, and Children's Rights.
1 Introduction: An Overview of Children in Public Care (Dorota Iwaniec).
2 Ordinary Children in Extraordinary Circumstances (Jane Aldgate).
3 The Importance of Developing Emotional Bonds Between Parents and Children (Emma Larkin).
4 Children in Alternative Care: Are Their Rights Being Met?(Rosemary Kilpatrick).
Section II Pathways to Permanency.
5 Outcomes of Long-Term Foster-Care: Young People's Views(Colette McAuley).
6 Kinship Care as a Route to Permanent Placement (Una Lernihan and Greg Kelly).
7 Exploring Regional Trends in Pathways to Permanency (Dominic McSherry and Emma Larkin).
Section III Residential and Mixed Care.
8 Developments in Residential Care in Northern Ireland (Dominic McSherry and Emma Larkin).
9 The Mental-Health Needs of Looked-After Children (Tom Teggart).
10 Changing Lives or Just Changing Location? Planning for Adolescents in Substitute Care (Helga Sneddon).
11 Making Use of Positive Psychology in Residential Child Care (Stan Houston).
Section IV Court and Family Support Pathways to Substitute Care.
12 Pathways to Permanence: Accommodation, Compulsion and Permanence under the Children (NI) Order (1995) (Theresa Donaldson).
13 Care-Planning in Care Proceedings: A Case-Study Perspective on Achieving Permanency (Dominic McSherry).
14 The Participation of 'Looked-after' Children in Public Law Proceedings (Karen Winter).
Section V Messages from Research.
15 Messages from Research (Dorota Iwaniec and Helga Sneddon).
Index.
