According to data published in 2018, approximately 20,000 children resided in group homes across the United States. By the nature of their situations, living outside of their familial homes, these children are experiencing trauma while trying to participate in typical childhood activities, such as making friends and attending school. Children who reside in group homes are foster youth. Foster youth consistently show low levels of academic achievement (Vacca, 2008). Children who reside in group homes have many service providers that are responsible for their care, including teachers, social workers, therapists, group home staff; these people make up the child’s circle of care. The purpose of this study was to explore how the service professionals within the circle of care support the academic development of students who reside in group homes and how existing strategies can be improved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Weick’s (1976) concept of loosely coupled systems in education was used to theorize the connections between service providers and identify opportunities for improved collaboration. Results showed that all members of the circle of care need to work together more closely to appropriately support these students, especially those members who work for the group homes and the schools. All members of the circle of care need more training in trauma informed care and the laws that allocate resources and direct the care for children who reside in group homes.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 196-197. / by Tracy Renée Smith. / M.C.P.

This thesis explores the concept of design guidelines as they relate to the context of small community-based residential facilities for disabled children. Each of the major issues which are relevant to these types of facilities were looked at in some detail. These issues were therapeutic environments in general, small residential facilities, community-based facilities, and disabled children, as well as the concept of design guidelines and what types of information they contain. Soae existing architectural examples of these types of facilities are briefly discussed. Further exploration of the concept was gained through the use of a case study of an existing residential facility for emotionally disturbed children located in Roanoke, Virginia. Included is a discussion of the research methods used in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the existing facility. The result of these two sets of explorations was the creation of design guidelines for small community-based residential facilities for disabled children. Also included in this thesis is the resulting renovation of the interior spaces of the existing facility where the case study project was conducted. The renovation of the facility spaces was based upon the design guidelines as well as other site- and program- specific considerations. / Master of Architecture

People with intellectual disability are living longer, which creates new demands for the support and care of this target group. Participation and autonomy at all ages, regardless of functional capacity, are cited in legislation and among the key objectives of disability policy. As a group, older people with intellectual disability have previously been almost invisible in both policy documents and research. Information regarding this group is thus limited, and more systematic knowledge is needed about older people with intellectual disability, their daily lives, and especially their opportunities for autonomy. The purpose of this thesis is to learn more about the role of influence and autonomy in everyday life from the perspective of older people with intellectual disability living in group homes. This will be achieved by studying situations in which opportunities and obstacles arise for these residents to exercise their autonomy in daily life, and identifying and analysing how autonomy is expressed in the meeting between residents and staff. The study applies an ethnographic approach, using methods including field studies with observations and videotaped meetings between residents and staff. The sample consists of residents aged 65 and over and staff at three group homes for people with intellectual disability. One resident at each group home is followed in greater depth. The analysis uses the time-geographic concepts of project, activity and restrictions in order to clarify where and when different projects are carried out, as well as who has the power to determine what is to be carried out. Interaction analysis is used to analyse the videotaped meetings between residents and staff. The analysis is based on Goffman’s interaction order and interaction rituals, theories about turntaking, both verbal and non-verbal, and theories about power and counter-power. In accordance with Goffman’s framework concept, the starting point is the concrete framework that reflects spatiality, which in turn becomes a way to place the more abstract framework of the situation into a specific context. Two major projects were identified: Sleep and Rest and Meals. The analysis reveals projects that are governed by the resident’s own preferences (individual projects) and projects that are governed to a greater degree by the staff’s objectives and opportunities (institutional projects). Some guidance also derives from municipal decisions and guidelines (organizational projects). Many projects were carried out based on staff decisions and objectives, but in actual practice many projects failed to get off the ground. Some projects were at risk of failure until something happened or someone intervened and thereby rescued the project so that it could be implemented. The interactional analysis perspective shows how autonomy is constructed in the meeting. Autonomy is situation-bound, and shifts more on the basis of context than in relation to specific individuals. The study includes decision situations mainly between autonomy and its opposite, paternalism, which are viewed as extremes on a continuum. However, certain factors lead to stronger autonomy in certain situations. When a resident can define the situation, they also have greater power to determine the outcome. In situations characterized by paternalism, the staff have a preferential right of interpretation and the power to decide, both on the basis of their knowledge and because of the asymmetrical interdependence that characterizes the resident-professional relationship. Such situations are also governed by the rules and procedures of the group home to a greater degree than those situations in which the resident exercises autonomy. The thesis discusses strategies that could increase the residents’ opportunities for autonomy. Greater communication skills among staff can be viewed as a step on the path toward greater autonomy for the residents. Staff have the potential to eliminate obstacles, to strengthen inadequate skills or create new ones by providing choices and assistive devices, and to exercise an affirmative approach.

About half a million children live in out-of-home care, generally due to state intervention (Children’s Bureau, 2016). The outcomes of youth in treatment are improved when they have stable relationships with caregiving adults. Group homes based on the Teaching-Family Model utilize a married couple who live in the home and are the primary care treatment providers. The present study employed a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of eight men who have worked in this role for at least a year. Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes and motivations were identified as common themes among respondents for how and why they continued in a difficult job and lifestyle. Implications for Teaching-Family Model group homes and foster care agencies are discussed, as well as possible directions for further research.

There is an ongoing trend in Western societies, including Australia, to move people with developmental disabilities out of institutions and into community based accommodation. When deinstitutionalisation occurs it impacts not only on the person with a disability but on their significant others and also on the organisation/s providing them with support. While government departments and support organisations say that they involve family members in deinstitutionalisation, little previous research has focussed on family members’ experiences of deinstitutionalisation to know if it is an engaging and empowering experience for them. Most previous studies of deinstitutionalisation, where they have spoken to significant others, have focussed on their perceptions of the benefits or disadvantages of deinstitutionalisation for their son or daughter with a disability directly rather than considering how it impacted upon the significant others. I identified this as a gap in our current knowledge and set out through this study to find out what deinstitutionalisation was like from the viewpoint of some significant others involved in it My research methodology was informed by a Symbolic Interactionist approach whereby I wished to investigate the meaning attached by significant others to the process and the outcomes of deinstitutionalisation through in depth interviews The application of selective coding procedures led to the development of the core category - for some significant others devolution is a disempowering process. This is a different viewpoint to that expressed in the majority of studies of devolution. In considering why this study revealed a different story, I identified through the data and from reviewing the available international literature, that deinstitutionalisation rekindles feelings of guilt regarding the decision to place their child in an out-of-home placement. Application of these principles might result in Empowering Partnerships which would in turn benefit all three players. I translated the three major categories and five principles into a Model of Empowering Partnerships in Devolution. / Master of Arts (Hons)

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.Sci.)--University of Wollongong, 2004. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaf 71-79.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1997. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-138).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Carleton University, 2000. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.