Child's Journey Through Care

Professor Dorota Iwaniec is Director of the Institute of Childcare Research at Queen’s University, Belfast. She is a world-renowned expert on childcare and emotional abuse and is the author of several books, including three published by Wiley.

• List of Illustrations xiAbout the Contributors xiiiPreface xviiEditor's Acknowledgements xixPart I The Need for a Good Start in Life: Attachment, Bonding, and Children's Rights 11 Introduction: An Overview of Children in Public Care 3Dorota IwaniecIntroduction 3Problems and Dilemmas with Fostering and Residential Care 5Looked-after Children in the United Kingdom 8Abuse of Children in Care 10The Purpose and Organisation of the Book 11References 142 Ordinary Children in Extraordinary Circumstances 17Jane AldgateIntroduction 17Children in Need 17Recent Child-development Thinking 18The Ecological Perspective 19Recognising the Uniqueness of Individual Children 20The Well-ness Approach 21Resilience and Strengths 21An Optimistic View of Child Development 22Children as Actors in their Own Development 23Aspects of Children's Development of Special Relevance toLooked-after Children 24Children's Attachments 24What Is Attachment? 25Children and Multiple Attachments 26Continuities and Discontinuities of Working Models 27The Impact of Loss on Children's Development 28Counteracting the Impact of Loss and Separation with Contact and Connectedness 30Attachments and Socio-genealogical Connectedness 31Counteracting the Impact of Separation with Stability 32A Permanency Planning Approach 33What Can Help Promote Children's Development in Practice? 33References 353 The Importance of Developing Emotional Bonds between Parents and Children 41Emma LarkinIntroduction 41What Is Bonding? 41Bonding and Attachment 43What Influences the Bonding Process? 44The Bonding Process and Care Careers 48Facilitating the Bonding Process for Alternative Care-providers 53Summary 54References 554 Children in Alternative Care: Are their Rights Being Met? 61Rosemary KilpatrickIntroduction 61Children's Rights 62Articles Associated with Alternative Care 63Processes Leading to Care Orders 65Care Orders 66Foster Care 67Residential Care 69Secure Accommodation 71Conclusion 73Acknowledgements 75Notes 75References 75Part II Pathways to Permanency 795 Outcomes of Long-term Foster Care: Young People's Views 81Colette McAuleyIntroduction 81Improving Outcomes for Looked-after Children 82Outcomes of Long-term Foster Care 83Children's Rights and Researching Children's Views 84The Pathways and Outcomes Study 85Interviews with the Young People: Key Messages 86Implications for Policy and Practice 92Conclusion 93References 946 Kinship Care as a Route to Permanent Placement 99Una Lernihan and Greg KellyIntroduction 99Children Cared For by the Kinship and Traditional Foster Parents 100The Placement of Children in Kinship Foster Care 102The Motivation of Kinship Carers 102Contact between the Children and their Birth-families 104Contact with Birth-fathers 105Kinship Foster Carers and Contact 105Relationship between Birth-mother and Fostering Household 106Care Plans 108Adoption 109Residence Orders 109Conclusion 110References 1127 Exploring Regional Trends in Pathways to Permanency 113Dominic McSherry and Emma LarkinIntroduction 113Placement Trends in Northern Ireland: Policy and Practice 114Placement Trends in Northern Ireland: Statistical Information 116Research on Regional Placement Variation 117Examining Regional Variations 119Variations in Placement Patterns over Time 120Discussion of Results 124Conclusion 127Acknowledgements 127References 128Part III Residential and Mixed Care 1318 Developments in Residential Care in Northern Ireland 133Dominic McSherry and Emma LarkinIntroduction 133Setting the Context for Change – Residential Care in England and Wales 134Setting the Context for Change – Residential Care in Northern Ireland 137Discussion 140Conclusion 142Acknowledgements 143Note 143References 1439 The Mental-health Needs of Looked-after Children 147Tom TeggartIntroduction 147Looked-after Children and Mental Health 148Understanding Looked-after Children's High Levels of Mental-health Needs 152Are We Meeting the Mental-health Needs of Looked-after Children? 155Models of Mental-health Service Delivery to Looked-after Children 158Conclusion 161References 16310 Changing Lives or Just Changing Location? Planning for Adolescents in Substitute Care 169Helga SneddonIntroduction 169Background 169The Planning Process for Children Placed in Residential or Foster Care 171Conclusion 178References 17911 Making Use of Positive Psychology in Residential Child Care 183Stan HoustonIntroduction 183An Introduction to Positive Psychology 185Goleman and 'Emotional Intelligence' 188Therapeutic Aspects of 'Emotional Intelligence' 190Csikszentmihalyi and 'Flow' 193Therapeutic Aspects of 'Flow' 196Conclusion: Positive Psychology at Work 197References 199Part IV Court and Family Support Pathways to Substitute Care 20112 Pathways to Permanence: Accommodation, Compulsion, and Permanence under the Children (NI) Order (1995) 203Theresa DonaldsonIntroduction 203The Study 205Care Order Application or Accommodation? 207Parents' 'Co-operation' 210Implications for Permanence Planning 215References 21713 Care Planning in Care Proceedings: A Case Study Perspective on Achieving Permanency 219Dominic McSherryIntroduction 219Care Planning 220Parallel Planning 220Concurrent Planning 221Permanency Planning and Attachment 221Case Studies 222Discussion 230Acknowledgements 232References 23214 The Participation of Looked-after Children in Public Law Proceedings 235Karen WinterIntroduction 235Who Are Looked-after Children? 236Looked-after Children and Public Law Proceedings 237Definitions of Participation 238Reasons for the Increased Emphasis on Participation 239Mechanisms and Provisions for the Participation of Looked-after Children in Public Law Proceedings 240Effectiveness of Existing Mechanisms and Provisions Regarding the Participation of Looked-after Children in Public Law Cases 242Room for Improvement 244Ways Forward 246Conclusion 251References 251Part V Messages from Research 25715 Messages from Research 259Dorota Iwaniec and Helga SneddonIntroduction 259Pathways to Permanency 259Kinship Care 261Permanency through Adoption 262Building Attachments and Bonding 263Children's Rights and Participation of Children in Public Law Proceedings 264Care Planning, Assessment, and Intervention 266Legal and Voluntary Pathways to Substitute Care 267Difficulties and Costs of Legal Proceedings 268Conclusion 269References 270Index 273

“…a consistent style that makes some complex issues quite accessible…if you’ve only got time for one book about care, this could be it.” (Children Now, April 2007)