An exploratory study on open adoptions from foster care in NSW, Australia: Adoptees’ psychosocial functioning, adoptive relationships, post-adoption contact and supports

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
Andrea del Pozo de Bolger ◽  
Debra Dunstan ◽  
Melissa Kaltner
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Open Adoptions

This is an exploratory study focused on open adoptions from foster care conducted through the public child protection agency in New South Wales, Australia. The results from an online survey completed by 23 respondents indicated that most of the adoptees were reportedly in the normative range of adjustment, had positive relationships with their adoptive parents and had ongoing contact with their birth families. Most of the adoptive parents had received pre-adoption supports to encourage post-adoption contact. These preliminary results are encouraging, but larger and preferably longitudinal studies are needed to guide decision-making regarding adoptions from foster care. The new challenge for the child welfare system is how to collect reliable data about the well-being of children already living in this permanent type of care and how best to support them.

scholarly journals The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Conditions, Employment, Career Development and Well-Being of Refugee Researchers

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Ourania Tzoraki ◽  
Svetlana Dimitrova ◽  
Marin Barzakov ◽  
Saad Yaseen ◽  
Vasilis Gavalas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Home Setting ◽  
The Public ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
The Impact

The ongoing ‘refugee crisis’ of the past years has led to the migration of refugee researchers (RRs) to European countries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RRs often had to work from home and/or to continue their social, cultural and economic integration process under new conditions. An online survey carried out to explore the impact of the pandemic on the refugee researchers showed that RRs found it difficult to adapt their everyday working life to the ‘home’ setting. The majority have had neither a suitable work environment at home nor the appropriate technology. Although they stated that they are rather pleased with the measures taken by the public authorities, they expressed concern about their vulnerability due to their precarious contracts and the bureaucratic asylum procedures, as the pandemic has had a negative impact on these major issues. The majority of RRs working in academia seem not to have been affected at all as far as their income is concerned, while the majority of those employed in other sectors became unemployed during the pandemic (58%). Recommendations are provided to the public authorities and policy makers to assist RRs to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on their life.

scholarly journals COUNTRY MATTERS: WELL-BEING AND EMIGRATION PLANS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA AND BULGARIA: THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF ROOTEDNESS

2020 ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Frederika Lučanská ◽  
◽  
Oľga Orosová ◽  
Vihra Naydenova ◽  
Jozef Benka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between well-being, rootedness and emigration plans (EP) among university students in Slovakia and Bulgaria. It also explored the mediation effect of rootedness in the relationship between well-being and EP. The data were collected throughan online survey (SLiCE 2016). The research sample consisted of 361 university students (M=22.4 years, SD=3.8) from Slovakia (141, 86.5% female) and Bulgaria (220, 69.1% female). Based on their emigration plans, the respondentswere dividedinto two groups;those who do not plan to leave (n=218, 60.4%) and those who plan to leave in the long term (n=143, 39.6%) after they finish university. ForSlovakia, all factors were significantly related toEP. Furthermore, the association between well-being and EP was fully mediated by two dimensions of rootedness with different psychological mechanisms. For Bulgaria, only well-being and onedimension of rootedness,desire for change,were significantly related to EP. It was also found that the association between well-being and EP was partially mediated by only one dimension of rootedness –desire for change. This study highlightsthat rootedness hasa different relationship with other examined factorsin different countries and also that it is necessary to respect the cultural and socio-economic featuresof acountry.

Personalised Budgets: What Is the Future for Child Protection?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Ann Dadich ◽  
Susan Evans ◽  
Kenny D Lawson ◽  
Brian Stout
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Potential Benefits

Abstract As the Australian state of New South Wales considers the adoption of a policy of personalised budgets in child protection, questions arise regarding how such a policy could take shape and how it would impact service delivery to promote safety and well-being amongst vulnerable children. This article presents findings from a mixed-method, realist evaluation of a pilot programme that adopted some of the features of personalised budgets, namely, personalisation, brokerage and keyworkers. Drawing on literature on personalised budgets in disability and aged care, the article highlights the features, potential benefits and challenges of personalised budgets in child protection. It concludes by arguing for a better understanding of how personalised budgets could benefit vulnerable children. This might involve: defining the roles of brokers and keyworkers, developing ways to increase service user engagement, clarifying implications for the wider service sector and planning for the provision of required supports and services for children and families.

scholarly journals Saving Children, Controlling Families: Punishment, redistribution and child protection

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
Family Behavior ◽  
Generous Welfare

This study shows that state efforts at child protection are structured by the policy regimes in which they are enmeshed. Using administrative data on child protection, criminal justice, and social welfare interventions, I show that children are separated from their families and placed into foster care far more frequently in states with extensive and punitive criminal justice systems than in states with broad and generous welfare programs. However, large welfare bureaucracies interact with welfare program enrollment to create opportunities for the surveillance of families, suggesting that extensive and administratively complex welfare states engage in “soft” social control through the surveillance and regulation of family behavior. The article further shows that institutionalization, a particularly restrictive form of foster care placement, is least common in states with broad and generous welfare regimes and generally more common under punitive regimes. Taken together, these findings show that policy regimes influence the interaction between families and the state through their proximate effects on family structure and well-being and through institutional effects that delimit the routines and scripts through which policymakers and street-level bureaucrats intervene to protect children.

scholarly journals Attitudes and decision-making in the child protection system

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Delgado ◽  
Vânia S. Pinto ◽  
João M. S. Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Rights Of The Child

In the contexts of family neglect or maltreatment, the State intervenes by safeguarding the development and well-being of the child or young person in danger. In more severe situations, the intervention may lead to the child’s removal from the family. The Portuguese Law on the Protection of Children and Young People in Danger (Law 142/2015 of September 8th) favours the placement of the child in a family environment, especially for children up to the age of six. Despite this, in Portugal, in 2015, 8 600 children were in out-of-home care, only 3.5% of which were placed in foster care, while the remaining children were in residential care. Therefore, one of the fundamental rights of the child – living in a family environment – is compromised in practice. This study aims to understand the decision-making process of 200 higher education students in domains related to child protection, and those of 200 professionals who are responsible for providing case assessments and recommendations for intervention in the Portuguese child protection system. Using the Child Welfare Attitudes Questionnaire (Davidson-Arad & Benbenishty, 2008, 2010), the study aimed to identify the participants’ attitudes regarding removal of at-risk children from home, reunification and optimal duration of alternative care, children’s and parents’ participation in the decision-making process, and assessment of foster care and residential care, with the purpose of promoting children’s development and well-being. We concluded that both sets of participants (professionals and students) can be divided in two groups, one which is pro-removal and the other, which is less so. In comparison with students, professionals less often favour the removal of the child and more often defend reunification. There are no significant differences among participants regarding their opinion about the role of foster and residential care, and the participation of the child in the decision-making process. However, professionals tend to support parents’ participation in the decision-making process more than students do. Finally, we present some implications of our findings for the practice of child protection.

scholarly journals THE CHOICE BETWEEN ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE AS CHILD PROTECTION RESPONSES

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Gay
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Outcomes For Children

Child protection systems in Australia are struggling to cope with the growing number of children requiring out-of-home care because of abuse or neglect occurring within families. Professionals and governments are grappling with the alternative care options that are available in an attempt to improve children’s health, education and emotional development. Research demonstrates that children suffer if they are exposed to multiple placements throughout childhood and this leads some to believe that the permanency of adoption would better serve the needs of children from broken families. This article considers the recent proposal by the South Australian State Coroner to expand the role of adoption as a child protection response, noting that New South Wales introduced such a model in 2014. It also examines international approaches in this area as well as the findings of studies into foster care and adoption. By drawing together the knowledge gained from different policy and practice approaches to out-of-home care, this article argues that introducing a blanket approach favouring adoption is not an appropriate option. It concludes that the only model likely to achieve the best outcomes for children is one involving individual responses to every child.

scholarly journals Status, causes and consequences of physicians’ self-perceived professional reputation damage in China: a cross-sectional survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Sun ◽  
Jinghui Wang ◽  
Shu’e Zhang ◽  
Yu Shi ◽  
Bei Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Reputation ◽  
Chinese Physicians

Abstract Background Conflict between physicians and patients is an increasingly serious problem, leading to the disrepute attached to Chinese physicians’ social image and position. This study assesses the status of physicians’ self-perceived professional reputation damage and explains it’s the adverse outcomes including withdrawal behavior and workplace well-being. Moreover, potential causes of Chinese physicians’ disrepute have been outlined. Methods Primary data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey of physicians from 10 provinces in China, who were invited to complete an anonymous survey from December 2018 to January 2019. A total of 842 physicians (effective response rate: 92.22%) were recruited as participants. Results About 83% of the participants self-perceived professional reputation damage from the sense of the public opinion concept. Approach half of participants exhibited the idea of turnover intention (47.3%) and one or more symptoms of burnout (46.4%). About 74.9% of the participants experienced a degree of stress. Additionally, three out of five participants reported low-level subjective well-being. More than 70% of the participants disapproved of their offspring becoming a physician. Four factors leading to physicians’ damaged professional reputations are those addressed: conflict transfer, cognitive bias, improper management, and individual deviance. Stigmatised physicians are more likely to practice high-frequent defensive medicine (β = 0.172, P <0.001), intend to leave the profession (β = 0.240, P <0.001), disapprove of their children becoming physicians (β = 0.332, P<0.001) and yield worse levels of workplace well-being, including high levels of perceived stress (β = 0.214, P <0.001), increasing burnout (β = 0.209, P <0.001), and declining sense of well-being (β = − 0.311, P<0.001). Conclusion Chinese physicians were aware of damaged professional reputations from the sense of the public opinion concept, which contributes to increasing withdrawal behaviors and decreasing workplace well-being—a worsening trend threatening the entire health system. This novel evidence argues a proposal that Chinese health policy-makers and hospital administrators should promote the destigmatization of physicians immediately.

scholarly journals Preparedness of Working Population to Adhere to Legal Constraints and Prohibitions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-237
Author(s):  
Olga A. Koropets ◽  
M.V. Сhudinovskikh
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Working Population ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Perceived Severity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
The One

In the pandemic times the majority of countries of the world resorted to introduction of prohibitions and constraints. The efficiency of these steps, the public well-being and safety largely depend on the willingness of people to observe them. The article presents the results of the research conducted throughout the territory of the Russian Federation during the first week of the lockdown (announced starting March 30 2020). 269 economically active (employed) respondents (186 women and 83 men aged 18-70) participated in an online survey. The study aimed at establishing the factors affecting the preparedness of the working population to observe the legal restrictions and prohibitions imposed during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors put forward and confirmed a hypothesis that the preparedness of the working population to comply with the prohibitions and limitations introduced in the pandemic is influenced by the perceived severity of the risk of getting infected during the performance of their professional duties and by the risk of loss of income. The study revealed the correlation between one's individual preparedness to respect the prohibitions and constraints on the one side and the rightful behavior of employers on the other.

scholarly journals Economics of Child Protection: Maltreatment, Foster Care, and Intimate Partner Violence

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph J. Doyle ◽  
Anna Aizer
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Neglect ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions

Violence within families and child neglect are strikingly common: 700,000 children are found to be victims of abuse or neglect in the United States each year; over the course of childhood, 6% of children are placed in foster care, and 18% witness intimate partner violence. These children are at much higher risks of homelessness, criminal justice involvement, unemployment, and chronic health conditions compared to their neighbors. This article reviews the state of the economics literature on the causes and consequences of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence and calls for greater research into interventions aimed at improving child well-being.

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