Residential Child Care

Prospects and Challenges

Andrew Kendrick

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781843105268
• eBook ISBN: 9781846426834
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Politique d'éducation

Residential Child Care draws on the latest research to offer guidance for developing best practice, policy and improved outcomes for children and young people.

Contributors examine important aspects of residential care work, and address the concerns about the poor outcomes for young people leaving care and the role of residential child care as a positive choice within the range of care services. Key issues addressed include promoting well-being and development for young people; tackling potential discrimination in residential policy and practice; responding to areas of discord in residential child care; and underpinning themes relating to residential child care, such as staff development and support.

This book will provide essential reading for policy makers, managers and practitioners in residential care and the social services, and students in the field.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Residential Child Care

Andrew Kendrick

In many of the debates about residential child care, the voices of children and young people have not figured prominently. Or rather, in contrast to those who have detailed experiences of abuse and poor practice, the voices of children and young people who have reflected positively on their experiences of residential child care have not been heard. While not denying or down-playing negative experiences of residential child care – indeed the chapters in this book give more than enough detail of such experiences – it is very important to make sure that the balancing, positive views of children and young people are also highlighted (Social Work Inspection Agency 2006).

It is worth recalling, then, that research studies have shown that children and young people prefer residential care over foster care. Sinclair and Gibbs (1998), for example, interviewed 223 children and young people in children’s homes and concluded that young people are more likely to choose residential care than any other form of care: ‘even those with experience of foster care chose residential care in preference to it by a ratio of three to one’ (Sinclair and Gibbs 1998, p. 46; see also Save the Children 2001). As part of the review of looked-after children in Scotland, Celebrating Success focused on what helps looked-after children succeed.

We met a number of participants who had experienced feeling accepted, secure and a sense of belonging in residential care. In the best experiences, participants thought of their residential carers as a kind of family... What often characterised the positive relationships in residential care was the continuing sense of security and safety, which could be relied upon. (Happer, MacCreadie and Aldgate 2006, p. 17)

Policy and ambivalence

Over the years, perhaps one of the reasons that the positive messages about residential child care have not come to the fore has been a continuing ambivalence in the policy debates about the role of residential child care. Alongside exhortations to promote the positive use of residential child care and not to use it as a last resort, there have been clear messages about the primacy of the family, the preference for foster care over residential child care and the excessive cost of residential care, and arguments to reduce the use of residential care placements. Research which has stressed the positive outcomes of residential placements and the complementary nature of residential care vis-à-vis other services (Berridge 1994; Kendrick 1995a, 1995b; Rowe, Hundleby and Garnett 1989) has been overshadowed by the scandals of abuse and government enquiries which have focused attention on negative aspects of residential care (Kent 1997; Levy and Kahan 1991; Skinner 1992; Utting 1991, 1997; Waterhouse 2000).

In this context, the residential sector in the UK has changed considerably over recent years. It has reduced significantly in size, the balance between the use of residential and foster care has shifted markedly, it caters primarily for adolescents (although a significant proportion of younger children experience residential care) and for young people who have experienced significant and multiple difficulties in their lives. Residential care, however, remains a diverse sector: it includes residential child care homes, residential schools, therapeutic communities, secure accommodation services, and services for disabled children and young people. The most recent figures show that on 31 March 2005, of the 60,900 children looked after in England, 8100 were in residential care – secure units, homes, hostels and schools (DfES 2006a). A similar proportion of looked-after children and young people in Scotland are in residential care. The latest figures for Scotland relate to 31 March 2006 and there were 12,966 looked-after children on this date; 1638 children and young people were in residential care (Scottish Executive 2006).

There has been an increasing move for residential services to become more integrated with community and family support services, foster services and educational support services. There have also been major changes in the regulatory framework for services across the UK – requirements for registration of services and staff members, implementation of national standards, and qualifications and training criteria for staff members – all having significant implications for residential child care (Crimmens and Milligan 2005; Kendrick 2004; Mainey et al. 2006). Centres of excellence have been established to promote positive practice in residential care: in Scotland, the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care and, in England, the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care. Such developments have highlighted the continuing need for residential care in a continuum of services for vulnerable children and young people, and the complex and demanding task which is required of residential managers and practitioners (Clough, Bullock and Ward 2006; Kendrick 2005).

Two recent government publications provide further confirmation of the recognition of the positive role of residential child care: in England, the Green Paper Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People (DfES 2006b) and, in Scotland, Extraordinary Lives: Creating a Positive Future for Looked After Children and Young People in Scotland (Social Work Inspection Agency 2006). Both publications stress the importance of residential care, but also the need to ensure that residential care is of the highest quality. The Green Paper states that:

Residential care will always be the placement of first choice for some children and we know that some children say that they do not want to be in foster care. We need these children to be able to enjoy a genuinely excellent care experience, drawing on the best of what homes in this country and elsewhere do now. (DfES 2006b, p. 52)

It is important, then, that all those who are involved with children and young people in residential child care draw on the latest research evidence to support their work if they are to improve quality and achieve ‘excellence’. The following 15 chapters in this book address major issues relevant to residential child care today. The aim is to pull together the relevant research, to identify ongoing concerns and recent developments, and to highlight implications for policy and practice. The book is divided into four parts:

•promoting well-being and development

•addressing issues of discrimination

•conflict and response

•context and culture.

Promoting well-being and development

In Part One, five chapters address the education, health and mental health of children and young people in residential care, as well as the concept of resilience and the transition from care. Joe Francis highlights the importance of schooling in maximising children’s life chances, and the long-standing evidence of the poor educational attainment of children in residential care. He describes the factors which lead to poor educational outcomes – children’s social backgrounds, pre-care school experiences, placement instability, the expectations and views of professionals, poor educational support in residential establishments, and problems linked to corporate parenting and ineffective communication – and the recent policy and practice initiatives which address educational attainment.

Children and young people admitted to residential care also suffer from poor health and mental health outcomes. These have not been given the same attention as the education of looked-after children although they are moving up the agenda. Jane Scott, Harriet Ward and Malcolm Hill identify the link between poverty and poor health outcomes and that the factors associated with poorer outcomes in the general population are over-represented in the backgrounds of children in residential care. They identify four sets of factors which affect children’s health: organisational processes, change and placement instability, health-related behaviour and lifestyle choices of young people, and the preparation of carers. Recent initiatives adopt more flexible approaches to service delivery to ensure appropriate access to health care. There are close parallels between the issues affecting the general health and the mental health of children and young people in residential child care. Michael van Beinum identifies high rates of mental health problems among young people in residential care and discusses linked risk and resilience factors. He describes similar issues to those examined by Scott, Ward and Hill in the provision of services, and discusses the development of ‘whole systems approaches’ which offer training and consultancy to carers and residential staff, as well as direct work with individual children and young people.

In Chapter 5, Brigid Daniel develops further the concept of resilience and its relevance to residential care. She outlines a conceptual framework which incorporates risk and adversity and internal and external protective factors, and identifies five strategies for residential practice: reducing vulnerability and risk, reducing stressors and ‘pile-up’, increasing available resources, mobilising protective processes and fostering resilience strings. Focusing on the strengths of children and the role of positive relationships, resilience offers an alternative framework for intervention in residential child care.

Finally, in this part, Jo Dixon addresses the transition of young people from residential care. Drawing on empirical research in Scotland, she stresses that transition from residential care at an early age is concerning. The study confirmed poor outcomes in relation to education, work, accommodation and health. The importance of a supportive social network was emphasised, particularly from family; as was continuing contact with professionals, including residential workers.

Addressing issues of discrimination

In Part Two of the book, three chapters address issues of social exclusion and discrimination in residential care. Teresa O’Neill argues forcefully why gender matters in residential child care. She identifies the lack of gender analysis and the importance of gender equality for both children and staff members. She explores the gender differences in the experience of living in residential care and the evidence of worse outcomes for girls. O’Neill stresses that more recognition must be given to the impact of gender on workers’ relationships and attitudes, management practices, the abuse of children and ultimately on the quality of the residential experience and outcomes for girls and boys.

In Chapter 8, Kirsten Stalker addresses the experience of disabled children in residential settings, although she emphasises that this is a largely hidden group of children because of a lack of research and information. She highlights disabled children’s vulnerability to abuse, the fact that children’s views are rarely sought, and difficulties in maintaining contact with families, friends and communities at home. The benefits and positive aspects of residential placements for disabled children are also identified.

Andrew Kendrick’s chapter identifies the long-standing concern about the over-representation of black and minority ethnic children in care and the failure of services to address their specific needs. Racism is central to their experience in residential care and it is crucial that this is challenged at all levels. This involves the development of cultural awareness in residential care, involving fostering links with families and communities, the composition of the residential staff group, black role models, promoting positive identity and self-worth, and cultural and religious practices.

Conflict and response

Part Three of this book consists of three chapters which address peer violence in residential care, physical restraint and the use of secure accommodation. In Chapter 10, Christine Barter shows how addressing peer violence has been neglected, despite the fact that young people in residential care have consistently identified it as an overriding concern. Her study focuses on children’s experiences of the nature and contexts of peer violence. The chapter identifies children and young people’s protective responses and stresses that reducing violence requires a planned, proactive approach and suggests a range of possible approaches: friendship support, mentoring, peer group initiatives, confidential support and reporting systems, and positive reward systems.

Physical restraint is frequently raised as a matter of concern by both children and young people and residential staff members. In Chapter 11, Laura Steckley and Andrew Kendrick link the findings of a recent qualitative study of the experiences of ch...

Table of contents

• Cover
• By the Same Author
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1. Introduction: Residential Child Care
• Part One Promoting Well-being and Development
• Part Two Addressing Issues of Discrimination
• Part Three Conflict and Response
• Part Four Context and Culture
• Subject Index
• Author Index