Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [53]-56)

This thesis draws together a series of publications that were based on research studies conducted between 1981 and 2011, covering care homes and alternative forms of housing with care. The majority of the studies were funded by the Department of Health or its predecessors, and were aimed at responding to policy issues, particularly for local authority grant funding. However, the funding provided the opportunity to collect information for broader purposes, and a central feature linking the studies was the collection, as far as possible, of consistent information about the characteristics of residents over time. The thesis includes 12 pieces of work, based on information collected in ten studies, and illustrates the changes in care home provision from 1981 onwards, and the potential role of alternative forms of housing with care. The aim of the thesis is to explore the following themes: the changing role of care homes and the development of the independent sector, particularly the private sector; factors associated with care home costs; changes in the relative role of residential and nursing homes, including changes in the characteristics of residents over time; changes in the quality of provision; the impact of care home closures; provision for self-funders and the expectations of residents; and the development of alternative forms of housing with care, and the degree to which specialised housing can provide an alternative to residential care. Care homes in the UK provide around 470,000 places and account for over half the expenditure on social care for older people in England. However, information about care facilities and residents is very limited. The papers presented here aimed to fill some of the gaps in understanding residential care and possible alternatives by making use of data collected in a unique series of related research studies conducted over a period of 30 years.

Although much has been written in the field of family history since Phillipe Aires' Centuries of Childhood (1962), the study of foster care in its various forms has received less attention. Themes concerning orphans and foster children do, however, appear guite often in literature and dramatic works. Two academic articles from Iceland and Brazil respectively discuss historical material relating to foster children and orphans in the 19th century. Themes from these articles, about the role of kin and neighbours in foster care, and the use of orphans to meet labour shortages, are discussed as background to the B.C. study. The constitutional-legal framework and social welfare policies adopted in British Columbia in the 1900-1930 period were under Anglo-American influence, with influences from Ontario being most direct. B.C. established some level of economic security for women and children with the establishment of women's pensions in 1920 and in 1927 the B.C. Survey of Child Welfare made recommendations for supervised foster care, that is, foster care subsidized by government and supervised by social workers. Although the legislation mandated "approved foster homes" as early as 1901, and envisaged temporary placement with children's aid societies (CAS) until such homes could be found, the annual reports and discharge summaries of the CASs, and the records of the Superintendent of Neglected Children show that this option was largely ignored. Not until overcrowding and medical crises forced the issue did CASs turn to foster care as an option. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

M.A. / The South African Government, through its social services, takes great caution about the children and their well-being. To emphasize this the minister of Social Development has priorities, which are outlined in the minister’s Ten-Point Plan. In this ten-point plan, services are outlined according to their priorities and one of the priorities in this plan is the well- being of vulnerable groups, including all children in South Africa. Foster care, as a form of substitute care, is not new in the system. For years, children who have been regarded as children in need of care have more than often been placed in foster care. This method is preferred by the Department of Social Development. The current state of affairs in South Africa, characterized by the high rate of HIV/AIDS infections and death, as well as poverty, calls for more children to be placed in alternative care. Therefore, for such children, foster care has been identified as the most viable option. However, it has always been the researcher’s experience that once children are placed in foster care there is often limited if no contact by the social workers. Thus, the children’s experiences are often not known. The assumption is often that if the foster parent is not complaining about the well-being of the child concerned, then the placement is perceived to be going well. The primary aim of the study therefore was to explore and describe the degree of contentment that foster children have about their status of being a foster child. Quantitative descriptive methods were used in the study. A sample of 67 foster children was drawn from the population (i.e. foster children in Tsakane). The researcher made use of group administered questionnaires to collect data. (iv) The results of the study show that most children have a positive experience about foster care. It is however significant to note that although the children are positive about their status, they feel that less attention is being given to them by their social workers and that procedures about foster care are often not explained to them. Therefore, mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that constant attention is provided to the children in need of care, for without this the social worker cannot assess whether the foster care system is effective for the child concerned or not. The researcher provides inside knowledge about the foster children’ degree of contentment about their status. The results of the study are discussed and recommendations are offered to improve on service delivery. / Dr. E. Oliphant

Clearly very little is known about the dynamics within foster families and the effects of fostering on children. The intention of this study was to understand what happens in the lives of children during their period of placement in foster homes and it affected them and to explore and describe the experiences of the foster parent. It was learned that there is often a breakdown in the relationship between foster parents and the children they foster, particularly with regards to the gaining of trust, the socio economic status of the foster parents also played a part in the success of the placement. This research has found that substance abuse on the part of the children was prevalent leading to great tension within the households.

The core of this study is an intensive review of a small sample of Indian foster children, their natural parents, their foster parents and of the services each group receives from a children's aid society. To a considerable extent, this is a test of facts against theoretical knowledge and against common beliefs. It is also an operational study which has been undertaken in response to a specific need, and with the hope of finding some procedures for remedial action. The research material is drawn from thirty-one sets of three kinds of files, and the returns from twenty-four questionnaires which were mailed to the foster parent group with covering letters. Data were also secured from a questionnaire which was pretested in an interview with one foster mother who had several Indian children; from consultations with social workers and other experienced people; and from personal knowledge gained by working with the groups involved. A preliminary review of Indians in British Columbia, historically and currently, throws light on the special problems of Indians here characterized as "marginality", "anomie" and prejudice. The study is, then, directed to three primary questions relating to: (1) planning foster placement for the Indian child; (2) the adequacy of the service offered to the Indian children, their parents and foster parents; and (3) the equipment of the social worker who handles Indian cases. The research also throws light upon eight other related queries, which were formulated in the course of the enquiry. On the basis of the evidence from the aggregate material, a number of procedures are proposed, both for improved service in planning for the Indian foster child, and for helping the agency and its workers who are responsible for his care. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study makes an analysis of those situations in which children of mentally ill parents were taken into non-ward care by the Children's Aid Society of Vancouver, B.C., in the years 1957 to 1959. The purpose of the study is to determine the characteristics of the families to whom this service was given, what factors influenced planning, the significance of the factor of mental illness, and whether the plan achieved its stated purpose. In the twenty-four family cases studied, there was a combined total of fifty-six children. Only thirty-six of these children were taken into non-ward care. The majority of families included two parents in the home, and in these instances the parents made greater use of their own resources. The major factor necessitating the use of non-ward care was found to be the hospitalization of the mother for psychiatric treatment. Planning for the care of the children was significantly influenced by emergency referrals, which gave little time to caseworkers to assess the family situation prior to placement of the child. Twenty-nine children were returned to their parents. Twenty-two of these were returned within six months. Most of these families were unknown to the Children's Aid Society prior to the request for non-ward care and showed considerable parental capability. Seven children were either made wards or were placed for adoption. In these instances the parents revealed recurring social dysfunction and parental incapacity. Their children remained in non-ward care for longer periods of time than the first group before a future plan was made. The results of the study are discussed with reference to non-ward care policy of the Children's Aid Society and to basic child welfare concepts. Some reference is made to non-ward care and temporary ward care legislation of other provinces. Some assessment is made about non-ward care. Non-ward care was found to be an invaluable service to families, but this resource must be used judiciously or grave damage to the child and the child-parent relationship may result. Implications of the study are discussed with reference to (a) the caseworker and practice, (b) community planning, and (c) non-ward care theory. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study is concerned with the social workers ways of communicating with children in foster placement and related situations. It examines what, exactly, is communicated to the child by the social worker, operating within Agency policy and structure; and the effect that this communication has on the child's ability to respond to placement as treatment. It is concerned, also, with the various methods by which the child's needs are communicated to the social worker; and the ways in which the worker responds to those needs, with special emphasis on when, how, and why the social worker communicates directly with the child. The study proceeds from a review of some of the recent literature on semantics as well as recent child welfare literature. This is supplemented by material gathered from interviews with twelve professionally-trained social workers, currently employed in child welfare work in and near Vancouver, and illustrated with brief summaries of six cases from their practice. The workers were interviewed with the purpose of ascertaining from them: what they judged to be the more effective ways they had found of communicating with children; their definition of the use they make of direct communication with children, indirect communication through parents or foster parents, and of joint interviewing; what they see as their particular contribution to the child in the placement situation; and some of the difficulties they encounter in performing their work. The results point up the differences between children and adults, and the effects of these differences on methods of communication. They emphasize the treatment aspect of placement, and the importance of structure, plan, and clear definition of treatment goals in order to enable the worker to channel her communications, both to the child and on behalf of the child, toward establishing hope and confidence in the possible achievement of those goals. It indicates a need for further study of communication and casework, with some implications for further refining the definition of the scope and limits of the casework method. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis is an examination of an individual, long-term foster home which served a large child placement agency until a few years ago. The foster home was regarded by agency workers as an eminently successful one, both quantitatively and qualitatively particularly with adolescent boys, who are placement problems for any child-placing agency. The study was undertaken as an investigation into the reasons for the foster home's success with adolescent boys, in order to provide a point of departure for more controlled scientific study in the future. The study was done at the Vancouver Children's Aid Society, one of several agencies of its kind in Canada which is responsible for foster home and other forms of placement planning for many children who come into its care, and for the administration of various statutes related to the protection of children. The study includes: 1. An account of the historical development of foster home placement practice, an account of the needs and problems of children (with particular reference to those who require foster home care), and a description of the agency in which the study took place; 2. A survey of the children placed la the foster home and a qualitative study of the foster home, focussing on the twenty-one-year period of its active service to the agency; 3. An examination of the agency's case records of the foster children, their own families, and the foster family. Additional material for the study was obtained from Interviews with the foster mother, her own two children, and four of her former foster children. This study sought to examine the foster home in order to provide some formulation of the dynamics of a good foster home, particularly for adolescent boys. The findings suggest a number of important factors to be sought in any such foster home, including steady and consistent affection for all children, foster and own, an assumption of adult humility, interest, responsibility and leadership on the part of the foster parents, and the Importance of strong community roots for the foster home. These findings, in addition to having implications for future research, may provide a basis for a further refinement of diagnostic efficiency in the agency's future foster home placement programs. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Issues in foster home recruitment and maintenance in a child-placing agency are considered in this thesis. References are made to literature about the historical development of the foster home method of child care and this includes the set-up of the Children's Aid Society of Vancouver. There is the recognition that foster home placement is not the only plan for each child in agency care but that it is one important answer. Placement problems are raised and discussed. Specific factors in the closing of 100 foster homes are examined and the reasons are discussed. Records of 100 closed used foster homes are studied from the standpoints of reasons for closing, motives for boarding children, length of time of service, and number of children placed. A comparison is made of the number of homes closed for avoidable and unavoidable reasons and tables are drawn up to illustrate the factors examined. Case illustrations are used from Children's Aid Society records. The study found that approximately one-third of the homes closed for practical reasons while two-thirds closed for reasons bearing further examination. The largest group closed because of non-acceptance of foster children and their families, and the next largest group closed because of the difficult behaviour of foster children. A considerable number decided they wanted children on a more permanent basis than foster home placement. Over half of the closed homes served the Agency less than one year and a little less than half boarded only one child before closing. A large group stated their original motives for boarding a child as "company for own only child." Conclusions reached about foster homes are around three basic topics; namely the recruitment of homes, the home study, and placement practices. The most important factor in getting good foster homes is a better selection of applicants in the first place. This can more easily be done by treating foster parenthood as a job with preparation and satisfying remuneration. A thorough home study can be facilitated when there is a better selection of homes from which to choose and when skilled, experienced homefinders have ample time to complete the study satisfactorily. With this groundwork good follow-up placement practices such as pre-placement conferences and casework service after placement should do much to recruit and maintain a higher standard of foster homes. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate