Suchergebnisse

Purpose
– This paper is about the implementation of the evidence-based practice paradigm in child welfare in Europe. Our main question is whether there is a pan-European perspective on evidence-based working in this area, and if so, how it can be characterised.


Design/methodology/approach
– We try to answer this question by means of a theoretical analysis, which is focusing on three issues: the construct "Europe", recent evolutions in child welfare on the continent and the implementation of the evidence-based practice paradigm in child welfare.


Findings
– Europe is a patchwork of regions, cultures and laws. This impacts practice. Since more than a decade now, the evidence-based practice paradigm conquered child welfare. This evolution was preceded by a movement towards children's rights and quality of care. The way the paradigm is interpreted and put into practice in Europe is largely influenced by regional policies and local view points, which means there is no pan-European perspective on evidence-based working in child welfare.


Originality/value
– The lack of a pan-European perspective may be a strength, because it helps to blend evidence-based working with the need for an inclusive and culturally sensitive child welfare practice.

AbstractThe impact of sexual abuse on children is enormous, particularly when a child is abused sexually by a mother figure. In order to gain insight into the experiences of this rarely studied group, the life stories of four foster mothers of victims of maternal sexual abuse were collected. The narratives were coded inductively, and several topics concerning foster motherhood were studied more in‐depth. Four key themes emerged in the women's narratives: their attitude towards the abusing female, the foster child's sexual behaviour towards the foster mother, the emotional and physical distance of the foster mothers towards their foster child, and lastly, their sense of responsibility. The four foster mothers continuously balance between fostering their foster child as a parent and responding as a professional caregiver. The consequences of being a foster mother of a victim of maternal sexual abuse should be more socially acknowledged.

AbstractMatching children with foster carers is an important step in every nonkinship family foster care placement. Although guidelines for matching are provided in several studies, the case‐specific context of the decision can influence the practitioners' ability to adhere to these guidelines. Therefore, this study answers the following question: "How does the case‐specific context influence the practitioners' decision‐making process regarding matching in family foster care?" Using a qualitative design, 20 semistructured interviews were conducted with practitioners matching children with foster families. Three themes emerged representing different layers of practitioners' everyday decision‐making: matching as planned, matching being tailored, and matching being compromised. The results show that exceptions are part of practitioners' daily work, either due to the belief that it might benefit those involved or because of obstacles presented during the decision‐making process. When the decision is compromised, matching practitioners lower their standards, while at the same time safeguarding the quality of the match. This proves that matching in practice is more than choosing a family, and guidelines are needed to determine what "good‐enough" matching should entail.

The Foster carer-Foster child Intervention (FFI) was developed to help foster carers recognise and cope with the stress that foster children under the age of five might experience when placed in a new family. Children who have been neglected or abused may have difficulty coping with stress and develop behavioural problems, and young children in particular can develop passive avoidance behaviour as a way of adapting to their new situation. The FFI aims to improve the interaction between foster carer and foster child by optimising the emotional availability, parenting skills and confidence of carers in a way that makes the child feel more secure. This article by Hans WH van Andel, Hans Grietens and Erik J Knorth explains the aims and principles underlying FFI and discusses its theoretical background, which includes attachment theory, psycho-education, mindfulness therapy and video interaction training. It then details the intervention and describes how it is being implemented in Dutch foster care practice. The article ends by outlining an ongoing randomised control study to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.