Draws on recent research to address key issues in residential child care policy and practice in the UK, offering guidance for developing best practice and improved outcomes for children and young people.
Residential child care is a crucial, though relatively neglected area of social work. And yet, revelations of abuse and questions of effectiveness have led to increasingly regulatory and procedural approaches to practice and heightened political and professional scrutiny. This book provides a broad and critical look at the ideas and policy developments that have shaped the direction of the sector. The book sets present-day policy and practice within historical, policy and organisational context. The author applies a critical gaze to attempts to improve practice through regulation and, fundamentally, challenges how residential child care is conceptualised. He argues that it needs to move beyond dominant discourses of protection, rights and outcomes to embrace those of care and upbringing. The importance of the personal relationship in helping children to grow and develop is highlighted. Other traditions of practice such as the European concept of social pedagogy are also explored to more accurately reflect the task of residential child care. The book will be of interest to practitioners in residential child care, social workers and students on social work and social care courses. It should be required reading for social work managers and will also be of interest to policy makers and students of social policy, education and childhood studies.
The CARE practice model provides a framework for residential care based on a theory of how children develop, motivating both children and staff to adhere to routines, structures, and processes, minimizing the potential for interpersonal conflict. The core principles of the model have a strong relationship to positive child outcomes, and can be incorporated into a wide variety of programs and treatment models.
Written by experienced practitioners and academics, this is a core text about the practice of residential child care. It takes as its starting point the fact that residential child care involves workers and children sharing a common lifespace, in which the quality of interpersonal relationships is key. Each chapter highlights relevant policy guidance and is developed around a practice scenario, discussing key knowledge skills and values relating to its theme. This highly practical book should, therefore, be of value to a range of students at different academic levels, from VQ to Masters, and to practitioners and managers in residential child care. The book draws on ideas from child and youth care and social pedagogic traditions and will appeal to a worldwide audience and provides a valuable addition to the emerging literature around social pedagogy.
First published in 1999, the overall aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive critical guide to the theory and practice of residential care. This is achieved by analysing the history and development of residential child care, examining the current legislative framework and analysing research. The volume has been written against the background of a crisis of confidence in residential child care. The system is often seen as facing perpetual problems of abuse, lack of control and crime. This book seeks to both understand and respond to this challenging situation. Understanding Residential Child Care commences by providing historical and theoretical perspectives. Having provided this analysis the authors move on to examine the empowerment of young people, the framework provided by the Children Act, the role of the manager, the importance of supporting and supervising staff, abuse in care and the experience of leaving care. The book concludes with a chapter suggesting a way forward for residential child care. The core concept explored and applied throughout the book is that of empowerment. It is suggested that this concept can act as an organising framework for re-casting residential child care in a positive manner, so that a quality environment can be provided which can effectively protect and promote the best interests of the child.
Residential Care of Children fills major gaps in knowledge about residential care of children, and is sure to inform ongoing debates within and between nations about the appropriate use of such institutions. Each "case study" chapter provides a rich description of the development, current status, and future of residential care in countries from Brazil to Botswana. Chapters describe how residential care is defined in the country in question, how it has evolved over time, including its history, trends over time, and any "landmark" events in the history of residential care. Authors examine factors (historical, political, economic, ideological, and cultural) that have contributed to the observed pattern of development of residential care and provide a description of the current state of residential care (number of children in care, ages, average length of stay, reasons that children/youth are placed in residential care, etc.). Lastly, each case study describes expected future directions for residential care and potential concerns. Two integrative chapters provide a critical cross-national perspective, identifying common themes, analyzing underlying factors, and speculating about the future of residential child care across the globe. This insight-filled book will be required reading for all child welfare scholars, particularly as international perspectives become increasingly emphasized.
Children and young people in care who have been traumatized need a therapeutic environment where they can heal and which meets their emotional and developmental needs. This book provides a model of care for traumatized children and young people, based on theory and practice experience pioneered at the Lighthouse Foundation, Australia. The authors explain the impact of trauma on child development, drawing on psychodynamic, attachment and neurobiological trauma theories. The practical aspects of undertaking therapeutic care are then outlined, covering everything from forming therapeutic relationships to the importance of the home environment and daily routines. The book considers the totality of the child's experience at the individual, group, organization and community levels and argues that attention to all of these is essential if the child is to achieve wellness. Case material from both children and carers are used throughout to illustrate both the impact of trauma and how children have been helped to recovery through therapeutic care. This book will provide anyone caring for traumatized children and young people in a residential setting with both the understanding and the practical knowledge to help children recover. It will be essential reading for managers and decision-makers responsible for looked after children, child care workers such as residential and foster carers, youth workers, social workers, mental health workers and child welfare academics.
Here's vital information on making the right recruitment choices, getting the best staff, and avoiding potential abusers! More than a set of procedures, good staff selection practice is about a set of principles that embody particular attitudes to the task. If we achieve these basic principles, we will go a long way towards eliminating selection errors and the risk of abuse that follows such errors. Author Meredith Kiraly Residential Child Care Staff Selection: Choose With Care draws upon international research and the experience of practitioners to help you improve your ability to recruit the best staff. With a minimum of jargon, this book covers the range of selection methods and advocates a consideredbut not cumbersomeapproach that uses more than one method of assessing skills. It illustrates management techniques that reduce the likelihood of abuse and will show you how to avoid recruiting potentially abusive individuals. Residential Child Care Staff Selection: Choose With Care provides insightful background information, examining the developmental needs of children; issues in the care of children away from home; abuse and pedophilia; and legal and ethical issues. Then the book discusses in more detail research findings which underpin key principles of good care and good staff selection, and best practice in a range of recruitment and selection practices. You'll also find a recruitment guide for all organizations that work with children and young people. The recruitment guide thoroughly examines the challenges and pitfalls of the recruitment process and will help you identify those who are most fit for this difficult yet extraordinarily rewarding career, and avoid recruiting those most likely to be abusive. This valuable book also includes four helpful appendixes that provide: examples of situational and behavioral questions to use in interviews Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable interview questions a profile of a skilled residential child care worker that you can use to judge whether candidates measure up sample staff selection formsjob descriptions, application form, a short-listing grid, job interview schedule, interview performance rating form, a reference check proforma, and a selection report
Pediatric Disorders of Regulation in Affect and Behavior, second edition is a skills-based book for mental health professionals working with children experiencing disorders of self-regulation. These children are highly sensitive to stimulation from the environment, emotionally reactive, and have difficulty maintaining an organized and calm state of being. Children with these struggles often have difficulty adapting to changing demands at home and school. The child may additionally struggle with bipolar or mood disorder, anxiety, depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder, Asperger's syndrome, eating or sleep disorders, and/or attention-deficit disorder. This book will help professionals integrate treatment strategies that address the individual's regulatory, sensory integration, and mental health problems. The book is organized with each chapter discussing a different form of dysregulation in eating, sleep, mood regulation, anxiety, attention, and behavioral control. Chapters begin with developmental and neurobiological underpinnings of the problem, include clinical observations, and close with diagnosis and treatment strategies. Recommended treatments integrate aspects of dialectical behavioral therapy, mind–body therapies and sensory integration techniques, and interpersonal therapy. Checklists for diagnosis and treatment planning are included at the conclusion of each chapter with an appendix of 20 skill sheets for use in treatment. - Practical skill-based treatment book for mental health and occupational therapists - Addresses eating, sleep, mood, attention, and behavioral control - Presents integrated treatment using sensory integration, DBT, interpersonal therapy, and more - Includes checklists and skill sheets for use in treatment