Children in alternative care

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Childhood Experience ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Family Abuse ◽  
Welfare Institution

This chapter describes how family abuse and neglect are the main reasons that children are in alternative care. In China, due to the absence of an effective child protection system, very few children receive alternative care for these reasons. Most children who are orphaned live with extended family. If they become state wards, the child welfare institution tries to arrange adoption. Otherwise, the most common forms of alternative care are institutional care or foster care. The chapter shows the significance of how alternative care is organized as it affects the childhood experience of the young people and their future opportunities. The qualities of the alternative care that they encounter might contribute to their current and future social inclusion.

scholarly journals Safe from Harm: Development of Online Child Protection Training for Scouts New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 384-391
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Asbury ◽  
Emma Addington ◽  
George Orsborn ◽  
John Williams
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Death ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Youth Protection ◽  
Abuse And Neglect

Introduction: SCOUTS New Zealand place paramount importance on keeping young people safe from harm. New Zealand (NZ) has one of the highest rates of child abuse and child death by maltreatment in the developed world. SCOUTS NZ engage with 14,500 children and young people, supported by 4,500 adult volunteers in 340 locations across New Zealand. SCOUTS wanted to inform and educate all their members about the importance of child protection (CP), while managing the challenges of a geographically disparate population through online learning.Method: “Introduction to Child and Youth Protection” module was created collaboratively with SCOUTS NZ and online educators at Whitireia NZ. The aim was to provide an accessible, evidence based, self-paced online module illustrating the realities of child abuse and neglect in NZ, while enabling the participants to understand the role of SCOUTS NZ in child and youth protection. The module was developed using “Articulate Storyline”, peer reviewed by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) working in Youth Development and Social Work, and evaluated using the Kirkpatrick framework.Results: 1102 SCOUTS leaders and volunteers have completed the CP module and evaluation to date. Significant improvements in the learning outcomes “Understanding the realities of child abuse and neglect in NZ” (5.32 ± 1.35 vs. 6.26 ± 0.79, p  0.001), “Understanding the importance of child and youth protection in NZ” (5.99 ± 1.13 vs. 6.51 ± 0.71, p  0.001) and “Understanding the role of SCOUTS in child protection” (5.74 ± 1.22 vs. 6.46 ± 0.79, p  0.001) were found on completion of the module. Participants found the module engaging (95%), useful (97%), applicable (99%) and relevant to their role (99%).Conclusion: By using tailored, appropriate content, emotive topics can be addressed through online learning, as this successful collaboration has demonstrated.

Coaching Parents About Children's Needs and Navigating the Child Protection and Other Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth ◽  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Children In Care

This article reviews developments in the NSW child protection system which aim to reduce the number of children in state care. The first development was changes to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1988 made in 2016 that created a permanency hierarchy for children who have been removed and not restored to parental or extended family care. Under Section 10A of the Act, guardianship and adoption becomes the priority if restoration is not possible, although Aboriginal children are exempt from adoption to some extent. The more recent development, during 2017, is the purchase by the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) of a license for two US models, namely Multi-Systemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN®) and Functional Family Therapy through Child Welfare (FFT-CW®). US studies have shown that these models reduce the number of children being taken into care. Related to this effort is the recognition by FaCS that the cost of out-of-home care (OOHC) is increasingly unmanageable given the 16,843 children in care in NSW. Added to this is the knowledge, confirmed by the Minister, that for many children in OOHC the outcomes are dismal. Finally, the article turns to the issue of poverty and seeks to address the established correlation (not causality) between poverty and child abuse and neglect. This remains the key issue that underscores child abuse and neglect that has to be addressed if a significant reduction in the number of children taken into state care is to be achieved.

Effects on Social Support Networks: Exploring the Impact of Type and Severity of Abuse Experienced by Children and Adolescents

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicity A. Quirk ◽  
Debra J. Rickwood
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Young People ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Social Support Networks ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

The importance of social networks for young people who have experienced abuse and neglect remains an underdeveloped area of research and practice. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between abuse experienced by children and adolescents and subsequent outcomes on their social support networks. The study sample consisted of 85 clients (aged 8–15) of a service specifically for children reported to child protection due to child abuse and neglect. Abuse was measured using the Harm Consequences Assessment (HCA), which recorded the level of abuse experienced in five domains: Abandonment/No Appropriate Carer, Developmental and Medical Harm, Emotional and Psychological Harm, Physical Harm and Injury, and Sexual Harm. This also ranked abuse experienced in terms of severity: concerning, serious or extreme. Social network was measured using the Social Network Map. Analyses revealed a very high level of abuse for most young people across multiple domains. Social support was most evident in the “other family” category, and a relatively high level of perceived support was reported. There were few significant associations between levels of abuse and social support networks. However, one significant effect evident was for those young people who had not experienced developmental abuse who reported a significantly better network quality in work/school area of life than those who had experienced concerning or serious developmental abuse. This study contributes to an important body of emerging evidence on social support networks for children who have experienced maltreatment.

scholarly journals No Further Action: Contextualising Social Care Decisions for Children Victimised in Extra-Familial Settings

Youth Justice ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Lloyd ◽  
Carlene Firmin
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Significant Harm ◽  
The Right

England’s child protection system is intended to safeguard young people at risk of significant harm – physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect. When young people are physically assaulted, stabbed or groomed into drugs trafficking they experience significant harm. To this extent they are entitled to support from statutory child protection services. Using findings from one component of a mixed method multi-site study, data from referrals and assessments into children’s social care is examined to identify the extent to which the right support and protection is realised. Such analysis indicates that despite being at risk of significant harm, young people abused in community or peer, rather than familial, settings will most likely receive a ‘no further action’ decision from social workers following referrals for support. This article suggests that to a certain extent no further action decisions are aligned to the legal and cultural parameters of social work and child protection practice, thus raising questions about the sufficiency of such for safeguarding young people abused in extra-familial settings.

Protecting Children under Financial Constraints: ‘Foster Mother Villages’ in Datong

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIAOYUAN SHANG ◽  
XIAOMING WU
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
The State ◽  
Foster Mother ◽  
The Past ◽  
Communist Ideology ◽  
The Government ◽  
Welfare Institution

China has a long tradition of Confucianism, it has also been dominated by a communist ideology for a few decades. How did these different beliefs and principles influence its welfare system in the past? Towards which direction is the system shifting when the balance of power between the state (the dominant ideology) and society (with its own traditions) has been changed? This article analyses the case of ‘Foster Mother Villages’ and the Datong Social Welfare Institution. The case of Datong shows that, although the influence of official communist ideology was dominant in the overall system of child protection in China, traditional factors were also influential. The dominant role of official ideology has to be underpinned by financial support from the state. Where the government failed to provide the support, the traditional factor became dominant in the main institutional arrangements: that is the reason why institutional care failed to replace foster care in Datong city. In the past 50 years, spanning the eras of both planned economy and market reform in China, the Datong Social Welfare Institution has protected more than 6,500 orphaned, lost and abandoned children, and most of these children have finally achieved a normal family life.

scholarly journals When is Enough Enough? The Burgeoning Cost of Child Protection Services

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth ◽  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Young People ◽  
Parent Education ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Vulnerable Families ◽  
Abuse And Neglect

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that at 31 December 2011 there were 5,098,694 children and young people in Australia under the age of 18 years, while for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's report on child protection indicates that there were 48,420 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in Australia. The likelihood is that almost 95 (94.96) per cent of Australian children and young people were not abused or neglected in that period; and this is a cause for national celebration. These figures are good reason to praise the parents and caregivers of the 5,050,274 children who were not abused or neglected. We argue that there is a need for an emphasis in the political debate about child protection that focuses on children who are not abused, in order for the issue of child abuse and neglect to be placed in proper perspective. The lack of perspective in the current dialogue simply results in an unending demand for more resources for detection-focused services. Instead, there has to be increased emphasis on preventative services for vulnerable families who fail to meet community child-rearing standards. These exacting standards of parenting can only be achieved through parent education and the provision of intensive and extensive family support services, combined with sensitive monitoring of at-risk families. Accordingly, this article is written in a dissenting voice.

Policy implications for young people leaving care in China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
State Control ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Family Based

This chapter reviews how the Chinese and international communities are sharing understanding about good practice in alternative care while children are growing up, particularly by prioritizing long-term family-based support. They are also changing alternative care practices to support children during their childhood and as they reach young adulthood, so that they are prepared emotionally and practically to live independently as adults in the same ways as their peers, away from state control. The chapter also looks at the policy and practice changes in China for the generation of young people who grew up in state care over the last 20 years, when alternative care was beginning to shift away from institutional care and recognize the rights of children and young people to an inclusive childhood and adulthood.

The Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect: A Study of Young People

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Brooker ◽  
Graham Kelly ◽  
Pat Cawson ◽  
Corrine Wattam
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Young People ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Child Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Size Type ◽  
Physical Neglect ◽  
The Uk

Describes a survey among young people about experience of abuse or neglect, conducted by BBMRB Social Research for the NSPCC in connection with their Full Stop campaign. It was known that crimes against children tend to be underreported. A key objective was to provide robust and reliable benchmarks for the measurement of child abuse and neglect and public attitudes to them. Research challenges which had to be resolved were: how abuse should be defined; context, approach and presentation of the study; how to maximise response rate and minimise/account for bias; data collection method; size, type and composition of the sample (a crucial issue, discussed in some detail); questionnaire design; memory and recall; interviewer briefing and fieldwork issues; confidentiality and ethics. The very sensitive questionnaires had to be well piloted. CAPI was essential because of the complexity of potential interviews. Key results are summarised (a full report is available: ‘Child Maltreatment in the United Kingdom’, Cawson, Wattam, Brooker and Kelly, 2000), under the following heads: physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional or psychological maltreatment, sexual abuse. The results have suggested that the present child protection system in the UK is inadequate in several respects, and raises important questions for public policy, and for the need for continuing research in this area.

Social inclusion impact of a childhood in state care

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
State Child

This chapter examines how the love and care that children receive in their families or alternative care are among the most important factors influencing the quality of the childhood experience. Young people in alternative care in China grow up in institutions, foster care or family group care arranged by state child welfare institutions, and non-governmental organizations or kinship or non-kinship families. The alternative care experiences of these children affect the quality of their childhood and, later, their transition to adulthood. The chapter also introduces young people who related their state care experiences. They spoke of positive experiences about affection and love from families and community members, as well as negative experiences about violence in state care, both physical and emotional.

Alternative care practices in child welfare institutions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Care Policies ◽  
Policies And Practices

This chapter presents the alternative care policies in the research cities — Beijing, Taiyuan, Datong, Urumqi, and Nanning. The institutions' policies and practices during the children's childhood and when they reach late teenage years affect the quality of the transition of young people out of care, such as whether they are required to leave, are supported to leave, have the capacity to leave and understand the benefits of leaving. The policies and practices affect the expectations and capacity of young people to achieve social inclusion in their young adulthood and to experience their rights to transition towards independent living in the same way as their peers in their communities, as well as support them to avoid the risks of social exclusion.

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