The study investigated the factors associated with the successful reintegration of one 'looked after' young person, following a long period out of mainstream education. A review of existing literature revealed a lack of research investigating the reintegration outcomes for 'looked after' children and young people. This is surprising given the concern around the exclusion from school of this group and the poor educational outcomes associated with them, which are well documented in existing literature. Qualitative methodology was used to gain the views of the adults supporting the young person and an abbreviated form of grounded theory was used to analyse the data. The participants perceived a number of factors to be relevant in the young person's successful reintegration. Following my analysis of the data the facilitating factors were divided into core categories associated with the young person, the young person's foster carer, reintegration planning and ongoing support. My interpretation of the data indicates that foster carers can play a crucial role in the successful reintegration of 'looked after' children and young people and their recruitment and training should therefore be given careful consideration. Reintegration planning was perceived to be highly important and indicates that professionals supporting 'looked after' children and young people should work together using formalised procedures and involve the young person in the decision making. Ongoing support was interpreted to be crucial in terms of accessing appropriate services and providing consistency of support. In addition a critical factor was perceived to be that key adults were able to 'fight the corner' of the 'looked after' young person.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:578026 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Robinson, Naomi |
| Publisher | University of Sheffield |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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