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Family placement or foster care (as it is more commonly known) is now the most widely used form of care forlooked after children in the UK, howeverthere is relatively little research evidence on any aspect of foster care (Berridge, 1997). A commonly held view of social care professionals is that foster care can provide a beneficial experience for foster children and families (Ruegger and Rayfield, 1999) and is more likely than alternative forms of substitute care to meet individual needs (Corrick, 1999). The aim of this study was to examine foster families' experiences of caring for children particularly in respect of the management of any emotional and behavioural difficulties children who are fostered may experience. Anecdotal evidence from foster carers and social workers suggests that children who are looked after by local authorities present a wider range of needs than previously and that foster carers are now facing a more challenging task (Ruegger and Rayfield, 1999). The study sets out to investigate: the range of problems children are presenting in foster care; the way in which carers manage children's difficulties; the impact looking after children has, if any, on foster families; the ways in which the service can be improved to help children and foster families manage difficulties; and the context in which foster families are caring for children. The research took a multi-method approach which encompassed the collection of quantitative data in order to provide an overview of foster carers' experiences and qualitative data which provided an opportunity to study the dynamics of foster care in more depth. The quantitative data was collected via a postal questionnaire to all the foster carers in one local authority and two unitary authorities (872 carers in total). The questionnaire asked carers about children's behaviour and needs and also about their views on support, training and planning in order to ascertain information from a broad range of carers about what would improve their ability to look after children. A short questionnaire was also sent to carers' children asking them to draw or write about their experiences of fostering. This provided information about their experiences of looking after foster children and illustrated how the behaviour of foster children can effect them. The qualitative data involved case studies of 10 placements of 13 children and young people who had recently moved into a new foster family. The case studies provided in-depth information about what it is like for a foster family to have new children move into their homes and what types and range of difficulties and needs the foster children were experiencing. The case studies were primarily about the foster families' perceptions and experiences but interviews were also carried out with the child's social worker and the children themselves (where appropriate) both at the beginning of the placement and 6 months later. Family placement social workers were consulted by means of a short questionnaire. The postal questionnaire to foster carers discovered that families were looking after children with a wide range of difficult to manage behaviours and needs. The behaviour of foster children and the impact of this on carers' own families was one of the main reasons foster carers cited for thinking of giving up fostering. In addition foster families reported frustration with and lack of support from social services. The training that carers most frequently asked for was on behaviour management. The responses from foster carers' own children illustrate the way in which the behaviour of foster children can impact upon their lives. The case studies highlighted the types of emotional and behavioural difficulties children in foster care may display. Foster carers were shown to be central in helping children overcome these problems. The reasons for placements breaking down or being close to breakdown were complex and individual, yet children's behaviour was a key factor in all of these cases. Carers struggled to cope with children's behaviour and neither carers or children were provided with the support they needed in six out of ten cases.

Appropriate long-term care arrangements for children whose birth families are unable or unwilling to raise them is one of the most critical issues confronting providers of children's social services. Knowing something of the longer term outcomes of different types of provision, the factors associated with differential outcomes and requirements for additional services will all assist in the development of practice and policy in this field. This document reports on a decade of publications arising from just such an applied programme of research, to which I have made a significant contribution in terms of research design, data collection, analysis of data and dissemination through both publication and other means. These publications represent a unique and original contribution to the field in terms of methodology and the analysis approach, the samples studied and the relevance of the findings to the policy and practice world. The majority of the publications focus on a sample of children placed for permanence during their middle childhoods, that is children placed between the ages of five and eleven years. This cohort was followed-up at one-and six-years after placement. Some of the findings from the early works were then explored in more depth in subsequent publications. The contribution to knowledge that is evidenced by these publications is reinforced by the use of longitudinal and prospective methods to address some of the weaknesses of previous work in this area. By focussing particularly on children placed during middle childhood, the works have added considerably to the knowledge base concerning permanent family placement for children. This is true not only in looking at disruption rates but also in terms of the factors associated with poorer outcomes among continuing placements in the short-and medium-term. In particular, several of the papers draw attention to the identification of what may prove to be a very important experience in the backgrounds of some looked after children -preferential rejection. This term has been coined to describe children who have been 'singled-out', within a sibling group, for negative attention from birth parents and who are alone in entering the care system. Although numbers were relatively small, the association between this experience and poor outcome in the later permanent placement was found to be highly significant, and held across time, within the samples studied. The papers, taken together, have also substantially informed the debate on likely support and intervention requirements of placed children and their new families and at least one of the selected publications has contributed specifically and significantly to government policy making.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka socialarbetares uppfattningar om familjehemsvård som en insats inom socialtjänsten för vuxna personer med missbruksproblematik. För att uppnå syftet används kvalitativ metod med utgångspunkt i en abduktiv kunskapsteoretisk ansats. Det urval som använts är en kombination av ett målstyrt- och ett bekvämlighetsurval. För insamling av data genomfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare som arbetar med vuxna personer med missbruksproblematik. Studien har en systemteoretisk inriktning och understryker betydelsen av insatsens olika dimensioner sett till individens behov. Det huvudsakliga resultatet visar att familjehemsvård uppfattas kunna möta centrala behov som finns hos målgruppen, då familjehemsvård lyfts fram som en insats som kan erbjuda en miljö där klienten får möjlighet att etablera trygga relationer och ingå i ett nytt sammanhang. Familjehemsvård kontrasteras mot den kollektiva miljön i institutionsvård, där en fördel med familjehemsvård är att skillnaden mellan familjehemmet och hemmiljön inte är lika stor som vid andra alternativ. Insatsen anses även kunna utgöra ett alternativ för personer vars behov inte kan mötas med nuvarande institutionslösningar. / The aim of this study is to examine social workers’ view on family placement as an intervention within social services for adults living with substance abuse. In order to reach the purpose of the study a qualitative method is used with an abductive approach. The sample technique that is used is a combined purposeful and convenience sampling. Data collection was conducted through six semi-structured interviews with social workers experienced in the area of substance abuse. A systemic theoretical approach is used, which is helpful in reflecting on the different dimensions of family placement in relation to the needs of the individual. This study argues that family placement is able to meet the fundamental needs of adults living with substance abuse, as it can offer a stable environment where the guest can build safe relationships and enter into new circumstances. Family placement should be considered as an alternative to the collective environment of an institution, where the contrast between the institution and the home environment is substantial.

<p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p> <p>The landscape of Child Welfare inOntariohas changed over the past several years. One area of significant change is that increasingly children are placed with relatives (kin) when it has been determined that they cannot be safety cared for by a parent or guardian. This change was brought about by new legislation and with it came a number of standards and processes to guide front line workers work with kin.</p> <p>The purpose of this research study was to gain a better understanding of how this change impacted front line workers. The research focused on what influenced the work and considered individual, institutional and systemic factors. It was undertaken in order to gain a clearer appreciation of the successes and challenges in working with kinship caregivers.</p> <p>Five child welfare workers who work directly with kinship services caregivers were interviewed. Qualitative research methods were utilized so that participants could share the direct experience of their work. This research used a Critical and Interpretive social science framework to gain a better understanding of the systemic and societal influences that guide the work.</p> <p>The findings suggest that while this work is highly regarded and valued by the participants, they struggle with their role in supporting and advocating for kin. On one hand, they support kin but on the other, they present as worried about such care. They question what is behind the Ministry Of Children and Youth Services movement to greater consideration of kin. They bring forward very important concerns about inequities in the distribution of resources to support children who are not able to live with their parents or guardians.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)