Can Stability in Out-of-Home Care Be Improved? An Analysis of Unplanned and Planned Placement Changes in Foster Care

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Tregeagle ◽  
Rosemary Hamill
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
Placement Change ◽  
Initial Entry

This article presents the findings of a study of unplanned and planned placement changes in foster care programs designed for restoration or time-limited assessment for long-term care. In this study, the causes of placement changes in the program are analysed to assess whether stability could be improved. The study was undertaken by examining computer records of placement changes over a 6-year period, in five Temporary Family Care (TFC) programs. Once these changes were identified, social workers were asked to describe the circumstances of the placement change for each named child. These were then categorised into two groups: unplanned and planned placement changes. Unplanned changes are those that were not anticipated at initial entry to care, nor during scheduled case reviews. The frequency of unplanned changes was 2% of all placements; within this group of unplanned changes no child had more than two unplanned moves and only 0.6% of children had two unplanned changes. Planned placement changes were those changes considered as part of routine case decision-making according to the requirements of the ‘Looking After Children’ (LAC) system. These changes occurred in 4.5% of all planned placements. Some children experienced both planned and unplanned changes. The changes were then categorised according to the reasons for change. Some placement changes appeared unavoidable. This finding leads to questions about whether instability can ever be entirely eliminated. The TFC programs appear to have a lower rate of breakdown than that reported in the literature; however, variations in study design make comparisons difficult.

The long term care of children with disabilities: Is family the only way?

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Bain
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Models Of Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Home Support ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
High Care ◽  
Birth Family ◽  
Published Research

Some families need to place their disabled child in long term out of home care, due to a high care burden. Foster family care is increasingly the only option available. While published research is sparse, there is evidence that rostered staff models of care are more appropriate for some children, and the potential gains from family care are overstated. Questions are raised about foster care successes overseas and locally, particularly as care options are restricted to in home support or alternative family models. Rostered staff models can promote a child’s involvement with the birth family, and should be developed further. Planners need to foster diversity, which allows flexibility and promises new knowledge.

scholarly journals Time to return to work following workplace violence among direct healthcare and social workers

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-167
Author(s):  
Kelvin Choi ◽  
Esther T Maas ◽  
Mieke Koehoorn ◽  
Christopher B McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Return To Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Workplace Violence ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Psychological Injuries

ObjectivesThis study examined time to return-to-work (RTW) among direct healthcare and social workers with violence-related incidents compared with these workers with non-violence-related incidents in British Columbia, Canada.MethodsAccepted workers’ compensation lost-time claims were extracted between 2010 and 2014. Workers with violence-related incidents and with non-violence-related incidents were matched using coarsened exact matching (n=5762). The outcome was days until RTW within 1 year after the first day of time loss, estimated with Cox regression using piecewise models, stratified by injury type, occupation, care setting and shift type.ResultsWorkers with violence-related incidents, compared with workers with non-violence-related incidents, were more likely to RTW within 30 days postinjury, less likely within 61–180 days, and were no different after 181 days. Workers with psychological injuries resulting from a violence-related incident had a lower likelihood to RTW during the year postinjury (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.86). Workers with violence-related incidents in counselling and social work occupations were less likely to RTW within 90 days postinjury (HR 31–60 days: 0.67, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.95 and HR 61–90 days: 0.46, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.69). Workers with violence-related incidents in long-term care and residential social services were less likely to RTW within 91–180 days postinjury.ConclusionsWorkers with psychological injuries, and those in counselling and social work occupations and in long-term care and residential social services, took longer to RTW following a violence-related incident than workers with non-violence-related incidents. Future research should focus on identifying risk factors to reduce the burden of violence and facilitate RTW.

scholarly journals FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MORTALITY AMONG LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS TRANSITIONING TO AND FROM EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S821-S821
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn C Tate ◽  
Colin Reid ◽  
Patrick McLane ◽  
Garnet E Cummings ◽  
Brian H Rowe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Care Transitions ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Risk Of Death

Abstract Studies examining risk of death during acute care transitions have highlighted potential predictors of death during transition. However, they have not closely examined the relationships and directional effects of organizational context, care processes, resident demographics and health conditions on death during transition. By employing structural equation modeling, we aimed to 1) identify predictive factors for residents who died during transitions from long term care (LTC) to emergency departments (EDs) and back; 2) examine relationships between identified organizational, process and resident factors with resident death during these transitions; and 3) identify areas for further investigation and improvement in practice. We tracked every resident transfer from 38 participating LTC facilities to two included EDs in two Western Canadian provinces from July 2011 to July 2012. Overall, 524 residents were involved in 637 transfers of whom 63 residents (12%) died during the transition. Sustained dyspnea (in both LTC and the ED), sustained change in level of consciousness (LOC) and severity measured by triage score were direct and significant predictors of resident death during transition. The model fit the data, (x2 = 83.77, df = 64, p = 0.049) and explained 15% variance in resident death. Dyspnea and change in LOC in both LTC and ED needs to be recognized regardless of primary reason for transfer. More research is needed to determine the specific influences of LTC ownership models, family involvement in decision-making, LTC staff decision-making on resident death during transition, and interventions to prevent pre-death transfers.

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