Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T20:47:14.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Before it's too late: Enhancing the early detection and prevention of long-term placement disruption

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Paul Delfabbro  and
Jim Barber
Paul Delfabbro
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Adelaide North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005. Email: paul.delfabbro@adelaide.edu.au
Jim Barber
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we examine some of the principal findings of a recent 3-year longitudinal study into foster care in South Australia and their implications for addressing the needs of children who experience high rates of placement disruption while in care. A critical finding of this study was that many of the most serious problems in foster care, such as repeated placement disruption, can be anticipated and predicted with considerable accuracy. Children who experience a disproportionately higher rate of placement disruption appear to be readily identifiable at intake. In addition, there appears to be an approximate threshold or point beyond which children subject to placement disruption begin to experience significant deterioration in their psychosocial functioning. This predictability of outcomes suggests the possibility of the early detection of children most at risk in foster care, and a means of identifying children failing to adapt to care. We believe that the extension of this form of analysis to other Australian states, for example, through the development of nationally agreed-upon definitions of ‘at risk’ and ‘harm due to disruption’ in foster care, may significantly enhance current attempts to evaluate and target treatment programs designed for children with challenging behaviours.

Type
Section One: Practice
Information
Children Australia , Volume 28 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Out-of-home care: Building a national research agenda , 2003 , pp. 14 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ainsworth, F. (1997) ‘Foster care research in the US and Australia: An update’, Children Australia, 22, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, J.G. & Delfabbro, P.H. (2000) ‘Predictors of adolescent adjustment: parent-peer relationships and parent-child conflict’, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17, 275–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, J.G. & Delfabbro, P.H. (in press). Children in foster care, London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Barber, J.G., Delfabbro, P.H. & Cooper, L. (2001) ‘Predictors of the unsuccessful transition to foster care’, Journal of Child Psychology and Child Psychiatry, 42, 785–790.Google Scholar
Barber, J.G., Delfebbro, P.H. & Cooper, L. (in press [a]) ‘The first 4 months in a new foster placement’. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare.Google Scholar
Barber, J.G., Delfabbro, P.H. & Cooper, L.L. (in press [b]) ‘Should permanency planning be a goal in substitute care?’, Research on Social Work Practice.Google Scholar
Bath, H. (1998) Missing the mark: Contemporary out of home care services for young people with intensive support needs, Canberra: Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia.Google Scholar
Boyle, M.H., Offord, D.T., Hofman, H.G., Catlin, G.P., Byles, J.A., Cadman, D.T., Crawford, J.W., Links, P.S., Rae-Grant, N.I. & Szatmari, P. (1987) ‘Ontario Child Health Study: I. Methodology’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 826–831.Google ScholarPubMed
Cantos, A.L., Gries, L.T. & Slis, V. (1997) ‘Behavioral correlates of parental visiting during family foster care’, Child Welfare, 56, 309–329.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, P. & Reid, J. (1991) ‘Using a specialized foster care community treatment model for children and adolescents leaving the state mental hospital‘, Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 351–362.Google Scholar
Delfabbro, P.H. & Barber, J.G. (2002) ‘The microeconomics of foster care in South Australia’, Children Australia, 27, 29–34.Google Scholar
Delfabbro, P.H., Barber, J.G. & Cooper, L. (2000) ‘Placement disruption and dislocation in South Australian substitute care’, Children Australia, 25, 16–20.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1997) ‘The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581–586.Google ScholarPubMed
Hudson, J., Nutter, R. & Galaway, B. (1992) ‘A survey of North American specialist foster family care programs’, Social Service Review, 66, 50–63.Google Scholar
Hulsey, T.C. & White, R. (1989) ‘Family characteristics and measures of behavior in foster and non-foster children’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 502–509.Google Scholar
Inglehart, A. (1993) ‘Adolescents in foster care: predicting behavioral maladjustment’. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 6, 521–532.Google Scholar
Keane, A. (1983) ‘Behaviour problems among long-term foster children’, Adoption and Fostering, 7, 53–62.Google Scholar
Palmer, S.E. (1996) ‘Placement stability and inclusive practice in foster care: an empirical study’, Children and Youth Services Review, 7, 589–601.Google Scholar
Pardeck, J.T. (1983) ‘An empirical analysis of behavioral and emotional problems of foster children as related to re-placement in care’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 75–78.Google Scholar
Vinnerljung, B., Sallnas, M. & Westermark, P.K. (2001) Sammanbrott vid tonarsplaceringar – om ungdomar i fosterhem och pa institution, Stockholm: Centre for Social Evaluation (CUS).Google Scholar