Understanding out of Home Care Rates in Northern Ireland: A Thematic Analysis of Mixed Methods Case Studies

Abstract Research exploring inequalities in UK child welfare interventions has produced counter-intuitive findings with respect to Northern Ireland (NI). Despite experiencing the highest levels of deprivation, NI also displays the lowest rates of children in care of all the UK nations. With reference to wider evidence in the field of child welfare inequalities, this article details the findings of two exploratory mixed methods case studies, located within NI Health and Social Care Trusts. Drawing on the narratives offered by child and family social workers, a series of possible explanations for NI’s significantly lower out of home care rates are considered. We suggest the operation of intersecting factors at multiple levels, including social work systems and practices, early help systems and structures, communities and families. These findings extend understandings of NI’s out of home care rates whilst raising broader questions for social work research and practice.

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Children in out-of-home care in Australia: International comparisons

Children Australia ◽

10.1017/s1035077200000262 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 5-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Clare Tilbury ◽

June Thoburn

Keyword(s):

Child Welfare ◽

Home Care ◽

Contextual Information ◽

International Comparisons ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Local Conditions ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Policies And Programs ◽

Children In Care

As governments increasingly search globally for strategies to improve child welfare outcomes, it is vital to consider how policies and programs developed in other countries are likely to suit local conditions. Routinely collected child welfare administrative data can provide contextual information for cross-national comparisons. This article examines out-of-home care in Australia compared to other developed countries, and explores possible explanations for differences in patterns and trends. In doing so, it also examines the similarities and differences between NSW, Victoria and Queensland. It is argued that a sound understanding of how out-of-home care is used, the profile of children in care and the influences on data can assist policy makers to match proposed solutions to clearly understood current problems. The imperative is to plan and implement policies and programs that locate out-of-home care within a range of child welfare services that meet the diverse needs of children and families within local contexts.

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Child Welfare Workers’ Knowledge and Use of a Resilience Approach in Out-of-Home Care

Advances in Social Work ◽

10.18060/246 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 17-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Madhavappallil Thomas ◽

Barbara Reifel

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Home Care ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Child Welfare Workers ◽

Chi Square ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Education Agency ◽

Work Education ◽

Welfare Workers

This paper examines child welfare workers’ use of resilience-based knowledge and intervention in a public child welfare system in a county in California. The data for the study were collected from child welfare workers who worked with out-of-home care children (n= 102). Descriptive analysis including chi-square tests was carried out. Findings show that a significant majority of child welfare workers are able to correctly identify risk and protective factors that are central to the concept of resilience. Although a significant majority recognizes the importance of using a resilience-based approach, most workers without a degree in social work are not familiar with it and are not currently using it in their practice. In terms of familiarity with and in the use of resilience-based assessment and interventions, significant differences were found to exist between workers with degrees in social work and workers without degrees in social work. Implications for social work education, agency training, and practice in child welfare are discussed.

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Globalisation and Child Welfare: Some Lessons from a Cross-National Study of Children in Out-of-Home Care, June Thoburn, Norwich, University of East Anglia, Social Work Monographs, 2007, pp. 70, ISBN 9781857841268, 8.00

The British Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1093/bjsw/bcn042 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 602-604

Author(s):

K. Broadhurst

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Home Care ◽

National Study ◽

East Anglia ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Cross National Study ◽

Cross National

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Social work mobility in Europe: a case study from Ireland

Transnational Social Work ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447333364.003.0015 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Trish Walsh ◽

George Wilson ◽

Erna O’Connor

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Northern Ireland ◽

Global Financial Crisis ◽

Mobility Patterns ◽

Worker Mobility ◽

The Republic ◽

The Global Financial Crisis ◽

The Uk ◽

National Governments

Social work has been viewed as one of the most nation-specific of the professions, ‘being closely tied up with national traditions, mentalities and institutions’ (Kornbeck, 2004, p 146). In addition, the political imperatives of national governments, austerity measures and managerialism drive approaches to service delivery which may supersede social work’s professional priorities. This militates against an automatic or easy transfer of professional knowledge from one country to another. In spite of this, there has been an enduring interest in developing international forms of social work that transcend national borders (Gray and Fook, 2004; Lyons et al, 2012). In this chapter, we present a case study of social worker mobility as it has evolved from the establishment of the first national social work registration body in the Republic of Ireland in 1997 with a particular focus on data from 2004-13 capturing the years leading up to, and in the aftermath of, the global financial crisis of 2008. We contrast this with the situation in Northern Ireland (NI), part of the UK and a separate and distinct political and legal entity with its own policies and practices. We draw on statistical and descriptive data provided by Irish social work registration bodies (NSWQB 1997-2011; CORU established in 2011 and NISCC, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council established in 2001) to illustrate (i) how sensitive contemporary mobility patterns are to changing economic and political factors; (ii) how rapidly patterns of mobility change and (iii) how much more mired in complexity European social work mobility is likely to be if the European project itself fractures, as is possible following the Brexit referendum vote in the UK.

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Day services and home care for adults with learning disabilities across the UK

Tizard Learning Disability Review ◽

10.1108/tldr-01-2017-0004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 109-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Hatton

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Northern Ireland ◽

Home Care ◽

Service Use ◽

Social Care ◽

Content Type ◽

Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽

Day Services ◽

The Uk ◽

Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare data from national social care statistics on day services and home care for people with learning disabilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Design/methodology/approach National social care statistics (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) reporting the number of adults with learning disabilities accessing day services and home care were reviewed, with data extracted on trends over time and rate of service use. Findings Regarding day services, despite some variations in definitions, the number of adults with learning disabilities in England, Scotland and Wales (but not Northern Ireland) using building-based day services decreased over time. Data from Scotland also indicate that adults with learning disabilities are spending less time in building-based day services, with alternative day opportunities not wholly compensating for the reduction in building-based day services. Regarding home care, there are broadly similar rates of usage across the four parts of the UK, with the number of adults with learning disabilities using home care now staying static or decreasing. Social implications Similar policy ambitions across the four parts of the UK have resulted (with the exception of Northern Ireland) in similar trends in access to day services and home care. Originality/value This paper is a first attempt to compare national social care statistics concerning day services and home care for adults with learning disabilities across the UK. With increasing divergence of health and social service systems, further comparative analyses of services for people with learning disabilities are needed.

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Experiences of preparing children for a death of an important adult during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053099 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. e053099

Author(s):

Elizabeth Rapa ◽

Jeffrey R Hanna ◽

Catriona R Mayland ◽

Stephen Mason ◽

Bettina Moltrecht ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Social Care ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Healthcare Team ◽

Mixed Methods Design ◽

Significant Relationships ◽

Health And Social Care ◽

The Uk ◽

Parental Belief ◽

Depth Interviews

ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to investigate how families prepared children for the death of a significant adult, and how health and social care professionals provided psychosocial support to families about a relative’s death during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/settingA mixed methods design; an observational survey with health and social care professionals and relatives bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, and in-depth interviews with bereaved relatives and professionals were conducted. Data were analysed thematically.ParticipantsA total of 623 participants completed the survey and interviews were conducted with 19 bereaved relatives and 16 professionals.ResultsMany children were not prepared for a death of an important adult during the pandemic. Obstacles to preparing children included families’ lack of understanding about their relative’s declining health; parental belief that not telling children was protecting them from becoming upset; and parents’ uncertainty about how best to prepare their children for the death. Only 10.2% (n=11) of relatives reported professionals asked them about their deceased relative’s relationships with children. This contrasts with 68.5% (n=72) of professionals who reported that the healthcare team asked about patient’s relationships with children. Professionals did not provide families with psychosocial support to facilitate preparation, and resources were less available or inappropriate for families during the pandemic. Three themes were identified: (1) obstacles to telling children a significant adult is going to die, (2) professionals’ role in helping families to prepare children for the death of a significant adult during the pandemic, and (3) how families prepare children for the death of a significant adult.ConclusionsProfessionals need to: provide clear and honest communication about a poor prognosis; start a conversation with families about the dying patient’s significant relationships with children; and reassure families that telling children someone close to them is dying is beneficial for their longer term psychological adjustment.

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Gender, Parenting and Practices in Child Welfare Social Work? A Comparative Study from England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden

The British Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1093/bjsw/bcaa085 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Karina Nygren ◽

Julie C Walsh ◽

Ingunn T Ellingsen ◽

Alastair Christie

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Focus Group ◽

Social Workers ◽

Gender Equality ◽

Family Policy ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Structural Barriers ◽

The Uk

Abstract This article explores ways in which gender equality, family policy and child welfare social work intersect in four countries: England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Over time, conditions for gender equality in parenting have improved, partly due to family policy developments removing structural barriers. These changes, however, vary between countries; Sweden and Norway are considered more progressive as compared with the UK and Ireland. Here, we draw on focus group data collected from child welfare social workers in England, Ireland, Norway and Sweden to compare these different contextual changes and how these are reflected in related social work practice decisions. The focus group discussions were based on a vignette, and thematic analysis was applied. Overall, welfare social workers are aware of the need to support gender equality in parenting, there is a heavy focus on mothers in child welfare practice decisions, and fathers are largely absent. Uniquely, we show that this is influenced by both a strong child-centred perspective, and a gendered risk perspective, in which fathers are seen to pose more risk to the children than mothers.

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