Kinship foster care: a study from the perspective of the of the caregivers, the children and the child welfare workers

In the last twenty years, in most Western countries, kinship foster care has become an integral part of childcare systems, growing progressively with regard to the numbers of children involved and relative weight as a care resource within the system; indeed, in some countries it is even more common than other placement options, such as non-kinship foster care and residential care. Research on this phenomenon is still recent and scarce, and there are few programmes targeting this population. In this article we present the results of a descriptive study on kinship foster care in the city of Barcelona, including information and data from the different stakeholders involved. From a quality of life research perspective we analyze the perceptions, evaluation and expressed satisfaction of caregivers, children and practitioners from the specialist Child and Adolescent Teams (EAIAs) responsible for the study and follow-up of kinship foster care cases. The research presented results are in line with those of current research in this field, and lays the basis for the future development of kinship foster care programmes

Job stress and burnout in residential child care workers in Spain. ' Estr??s laboral y burnout en educadores de acogimiento residencial en Espa??a'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Commentary on "Child Welfare Workers’ Perceptions of the Influence of the Organizational Environment on Permanency Decisions for Families"

Invited commentary on "Child Welfare Workers’ Perceptions of the Influence of the Organizational Environment on Permanency Decisions for Families".

Child Welfare Workers’ Perceptions of the Influence of the Organizational Environment on Permanency Decisions for Families

The findings of this study suggest that while child welfare workers are consistently distracted by competing priorities from unexpected events, most are committed, and to understand perspectives is more inclusive and may improve retention rates. Notably, while it is recognized that permanency decisions are not made in an intellectual, legal or clinical vacuum and certain traditional aspects of the bureaucratic structure do not impact decision making, this study advances the body of knowledge on child welfare decision making. Examined in this study are child welfare case workers’ perceptions of the extent to which the organizational environment influences the permanency decisions they make to reunify or terminate parental rights of children placed out-of-home. This study includes a sample of 95 child welfare social workers employed in three public child welfare agencies in the Baltimore and Washington, DC metropolitan area. It used a cross-sectional research design, employing a survey instrument to examine bureaucratic distraction, role conflict, and supervisory adequacy as contextual factors in the organizational environment's influence on permanency outcome decisions. Implications are made for child welfare policy, practice, and research.

Professional Social Workers in the Child Welfare Workforce: Findings from NASW

The U.S. Children’s Bureau has historically recognized the significance of the child welfare workforce in improving the lives of children, youth and families, as well as the important role of social work within that workforce. Although the public may perceive the child welfare workforce as being predominantly comprised of social workers; in fact, fewer than half of child welfare workers have a social work degree. This discrepancy has been attributed to professional shortages, workplace conditions, caseload size and complexity, and low salaries. However, studies initiated by the National Association of Social Workers have found that the profession continues to successfully attract new graduates to child welfare practice and that social workers in child welfare enjoy high levels of job satisfaction. These studies also identified factors that contribute to the retention and attrition of social workers in child welfare.

Manual for child health workers in major disasters /

Mode of access: Internet.

Salaries and qualifications of child welfare workers in 1941,

Mode of access: Internet.

Understanding of genetic test results for osteogenesis imperfecta by attorneys and child welfare workers in non-accidental injury cases

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Towards self-authorship in child care students : implications for working with children and their families

Using self authorship as a theoretical framework, this chapter examines the relationship between personal epistemology and beliefs about children’s learning for students studying to be child care workers in Australia. Scenario-based interviews were used to investigate how students’ views of knowledge, identity and relationships with others were related to beliefs about how children learn. Implications for vocational education are discussed.

Using resilience to reconceptualise child protection workforce capacity

Current approaches to managing and supporting staff and addressing turnover in child protection predominantly rely on deficit-based models that focus on limitations, shortcomings, and psychopathology. This article explores an alternative approach, drawing on models of resilience, which is an emerging field linked to trauma and adversity. To date, the concept of resilience has seen limited application to staff and employment issues. In child protection, staff typically face a range of adverse and traumatic experiences that have flow-on implications, creating difficulties for staff recruitment and retention and reduced service quality. This article commences with discussion of the multifactorial influences of the troubled state of contemporary child protection systems on staffing problems. Links between these and difficulties with the predominant deficit models are then considered. The article concludes with a discussion of the relevance and utility of resilience models in developing alternative approaches to child protection staffing issues.

An ecology of centre-based child care

The studies in the thesis were derived from a program of research focused on centre-based child care in Australia. The studies constituted an ecological analysis as they examined proximal and distal factors which have the potential to affect children's developmental opportunities (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The project was conducted in thirty-two child care centres located in south-east Queensland. Participants in the research included staff members at the centres, families using the centres and their children. The first study described the personal and professional characteristics of one hundred and forty-four child care workers, as well as their job satisfaction and job commitment. Factors impinging on the stability of care afforded to children were examined, specifically child care workers' intentions to leave their current position and actual staff turnover at a twelve month follow-up. This is an ecosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it examined the world of work for carers; a setting not directly involving the developing child, but which has implications for children's experiences. Staff job satisfaction was focused on working with children and other adults, including parents and colleagues. Involvement with children was reported as being the most rewarding aspect of the work. This intrinsic satisfaction was enough to sustain caregivers' efforts to maintain their employment in child care programs. It was found that, while improving working conditions may help to reduce turnover, it is likely that moderate turnover rates will remain as child care staff work in relatively small centres and they leave in order to improve career prospects. Departure from a child care job appeared to be as much about improving career opportunities or changing personal circumstances, as it was about poor wages and working conditions. In the second study, factors that influence maternal satisfaction with child care arrangements were examined. The focus included examination of the nature and qualities of parental interaction with staff. This was a mesosystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983), as it considered the links between family and child care settings. Two hundred and twenty-two questionnaires were returned from mothers whose children were enrolled in the participating centres. It was found that maternal satisfaction with child care encompassed the domains of child-centred and parent-centred satisfaction. The nature and range of responses in the quantitative and qualitative data indicated that these parents were genuinely satisfied with their children's care. In the prediction of maternal satisfaction with child care, single parents, mothers with high role satisfaction, and mothers who were satisfied with the frequency of staff contact and degree of supportive communication had higher levels of satisfaction with their child care arrangements. The third study described the structural and process variations within child care programs and examined program differences for compliance with regulations and differences by profit status of the centre, as a microsystem analysis (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Observations were made in eighty-three programs which served children from two to five years. The results of the study affirmed beliefs that nonprofit centres are superior in the quality of care provided, although this was not to a level which meant that the care in for-profit centres was inadequate. Regulation of structural features of child care programs, per se, did not guarantee higher quality child care as measured by global or process indicators. The final study represented an integration of a range of influences in child care and family settings which may impact on development. Features of child care programs which predict children's social and cognitive development, while taking into account child and family characteristics, were identified. Results were consistent with other research findings which show that child and family characteristics and child care quality predict children's development. Child care quality was more important to the prediction of social development, while family factors appeared to be more predictive of cognitive/language development. An influential variable predictive of development was the period of time which the child had been in the centre. This highlighted the importance of the stability of child care arrangements. Child care quality features which had most influence were global ratings of the qualities of the program environment. However, results need to be interpreted cautiously as the explained variance in the predictive models developed was low. The results of these studies are discussed in terms of the implications for practice and future research. Considerations for an expanded view of ecological approaches to child care research are outlined. Issues discussed include the need to generate child care research which is relevant to social policy development, the implications of market driven policies for child care services, professionalism and professionalisation of child care work, and the need to reconceptualise child care research when the goal is to develop greater theoretical understanding about child care environments and developmental processes.

The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor Problem?

This report is the third volume in ILAB’s international child labor series. It focuses on the use of child labor in the production of apparel for the U.S. market, and reviews the extent to which U.S. apparel importers have established and are implementing codes of conduct or other business guidelines prohibiting the use of child labor in the production of the clothing they sell. The report was mandated by the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, P.L. 104-134.