scholarly journals AN EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAM MODEL FOR FACILITATING THERAPEUTIC RESPONSES TO PAIN-BASED BEHAVIOR IN RESIDENTIAL CARE

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha J. Holden ◽  
Deborah Sellers

Children and young people in residential care have often lived lives saturated with loss, neglect, rejection, and traumatic experiences. Children express the pain of trauma in various ways, namely pain-based behaviors manifesting in ways that often leave their care givers confused, frustrated, frightened, angry or exhausted. For residential caregivers to respond to children and young people in a consistent and therapeutic manner, residential environments must provide an ethos of respect, caring, and trust, creating a safe place for children and staff to live and learn together. This paper describes the Children and Residential Experiences (CARE) model, its implementation, and evidence for its effectiveness. CARE is a trauma-informed, principle-based, multi-component program designed to enhance the social dynamics in group care settings and help agencies create a living environment that provides developmentally enriching experiences for children in their care. By incorporating the CARE principles throughout all levels of the organization and into daily practice, the CARE program model has been shown to improve the capacity of staff to establish positive developmental relationships with the children in their care, offer developmentally enriching experiences and a “sense of normality”, and create cohesion and congruence throughout the organization. Through consistent and predictable compassionate and responsive interactions with adults, as well as opportunities to overcome challenges and to experience successful learning opportunities, children can grow, develop and thrive.

2019 ◽  
pp. 152483801988170
Author(s):  
Kathomi Gatwiri ◽  
Lynne McPherson ◽  
Natalie Parmenter ◽  
Nadine Cameron ◽  
Darlene Rotumah

In Australia and internationally, Indigenous children are seriously overrepresented in the child welfare system. This article provides an overview of literature investigating the needs of Indigenous children in residential care facilities. The provision of culturally safe and trauma-informed therapeutic care to Indigenous children and young people in residential care recognizes that the trauma and violence that they have experienced is exacerbated by their Indigeneity due to the colonial histories presenting. Utilizing a systematic scoping review methodology, the study returned a total of 637 peer-reviewed articles that were identified and reviewed for inclusion. The process of exclusion resulted in the inclusion of eight peer-reviewed studies and 51 reports and discussion papers sourced from gray literature. Findings from this study, though dearth, indicate that trauma-informed and culturally safe interventions play a significant role in Indigenous children’s health and well-being while in care. Their experiences of abuse and neglect transcend individual trauma and include intergenerational pain and suffering resulting from long-lasting impacts of colonization, displacement from culture and country, genocidal policies, racism, and the overall systemic disadvantage. As such, a therapeutic response, embedded within Indigenous cultural frameworks and knowledges of trauma, is not only important but absolutely necessary and aims to acknowledge the intersectionality between the needs of Indigenous children in care and the complex systemic disadvantage impacting them.


2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth

This article is written as a bold opinion piece. It stems from the fact that once again we are seeing reports of abuse in residential care while at the same time there are calls for the reclaiming of residential care as a positive choice for children and youth. Yet there seems to be confusion as to exactly what function these programs should perform in the broader out-of-home care system. There are also important questions about the knowledge and skills that staff would require if such programs are to be non-abusive. A rejoinder to this opinion piece would be welcome.


Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher

This introductory chapter talks about how the rapid social, economic, and demographic changes in China have affected all aspects of the living environment of children and young people, particularly children in state care. Positive developments are the growth of the mixed welfare state and the relaxation of the family planning requirements, so that all families can now choose to have more than one child and they are more likely to receive free social services. These trends imply that fewer children will be left in state care in the future. On the other hand, whereas the government once arranged jobs for young people leaving care or other young people with disabilities, it now relies on the developing labour market to fulfil this function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124
Author(s):  
Pearl Fernandes ◽  
Yvette Aiello ◽  
Emma Pittaway

AbstractChildren and young people from refugee backgrounds witness and experience multiple traumatic incidents in the context of their refugee journeys that often remain unspoken because of the inherent challenge to think and talk about these experiences. In addition, they encounter ongoing trials when transitioning to their new homes which place them at risk. Jungle Tracks was developed in 2002 to facilitate therapeutic engagement with refugee children and young people in schools, within a preventative framework. It is a collection of five short stories that have been composed to mirror multiple traumas and cumulative struggles including grief and loss, displacement, discrimination, disempowerment, difficulties with sleep and affect regulation. Whilst communicating in a non-threatening manner, the stories encourage the reader/listener to connect and make meaning of their traumas by identifying with the protagonists in the stories. Jungle Tracks not only bypasses initial resistance but also leverages the power of stories to instil hope and unleash innate healing forces. This paper aims to provide an overview of the Jungle Tracks programme and the results of an initial evaluation of the implementation of Jungle Tracks. This was initiated to provide direction for future research and development of the programme. It was concluded that when children and young people are given the opportunity to process and make meaning of their past traumatic experiences, it can assist them to heal and recover and also offer them the potential for post traumatic growth.


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