Academic literature on the topic 'Foster home care Victoria Evaluation'

Recruiting caregivers for children with an intellectual disability who require out-of-home respite or longer-term care is a problem which has challenged service providers for many years. This paper summarises findings of a recent evaluation of Shared Family Care, a foster care program in Victoria for children with intellectual disabilities/developmental delay. Current recruiting is not succeeding in meeting the demand for either respite, short term or long term care. Findings of the evaluation suggest that factors such as use of appropriate media, and running effective recruitment campaigns is only part of the answer. It is also important at every stage to address caregiver satisfaction with the job and employ strategies to find potential caregivers in the community.

Family foster care (FFC) is the preferred out-of-home care measure for the protection of children and youth through Europe, in accordance with research findings of its superiority in meeting developmental needs of children and youth. Portugal, however, does not accompany the European trend in the implementation of FFC. Even after changes made to the law, prioritizing FFC, it represents only 2,7% of out-of-home placements (Instituto de Segurança Social, I.P. [ISS-IP], 2020).The main goal of this exploratory and descriptive study is to understand the perceptions of Portuguese child protection professionals concerning FFC. 101 participants, from different professional backgrounds and child protection contexts, filled out a questionnaire. Main findings show a heterogeneous degree of familiarity to FFC, and a generally positive although reserved attitude to it. Professionals seem to value its child-centred approach and ability to promote child development and healthy attachment relationships, due to the benefits of a family environment. Participants identified regulations and procedures related to selection, evaluation, training, and support to foster families both as obstacles and necessary conditions for placement success, indicating important arenas where change urges.

Designed to foster appreciation of comprehensive evaluation of home care outcomes, this case study of an older rural widow is part of a longitudinal phenomenological study of home care. Over 14 months, while her home care agency reacted to the Balanced Budget Act, nine interviews were done with a 95-year-old woman who lived alone until she moved to an assisted living facility. Data analysis yielded structures of her changing experience of home care. Although primarily supportive services may have been inconsistent with Medicare regulations, such services may have influenced the favorable outcomes of sustaining elders at home and undergirding the rural economy

Young people placed in out-of-home care (OHC) through Child Protection in Victoria are formally discharged by the expiration of their care order at the age of 18 years or younger. In contrast, young people in Australia generally live in their family home with parents or carers well into their twenties. Whilst there are a range of leaving care and post-care services funded for care leavers, these supports tend to be temporary and discretionary in contrast to the ongoing support young people receive whilst in care or, in some cases, from family and social networks post care. Numerous studies have documented the developmental challenges experienced by young people leaving state care, and the often poor outcomes faced by this group. The Stand By Me (SBM) programme was developed in Victoria to replicate the ongoing support provided in the UK to care leavers by Personal Advisers who remain available to assist young people until 21 years of age. Evaluation of the SBM programme has shown that ongoing, holistic support, including housing support, has assisted 12 young people through the SBM pilot to access stable housing, address multiple and complex issues, and form trusting relationships with SBM workers that contribute to positive outcomes.

The importance of family and quality of relations between its members is very important to the process of personal development. The child’s separation from his parents and placement in care homes have long-term consequences to the development of the child. After evaluation of the importance of family for psychosocial development of personality, the attention should be drawn to improve the system of child care for children without parental care. Increasingly it is considered to ensure the child’s right to live the family life, also to return children living in child care homes to their biological parents and to integrate families of foster parents. According to the current situation, the article reveals what trends prevail in practice of home care workers in order to ensure that children live in the families of the biological parents or foster parents. Also the article helps to evaluate the strengths of achievements in performance of employee as well as perceive the existing problems and provide the prospects for improvement of the situation and possible changes. In order for the children not to live at the child care homes, but in families with their parents or guardians, the question arises: what kind of effort has been made by care home staff to ensure the rights of children to live with parents or with a foster family? The aim of the study is to assess the context of the situation from the position of home care workers in order to ensure the right of children to live in the families of parents or foster parents. The peculiarities of the implementation of the right for children from care home to live in the family were analyzed. The study involved 17 care home staff and was based on their view and personal work experience. A semi-standardized interview method has been applied to get to know the strengths of performance achievements of care home staff also to reveal the problems and shortcomings impeding the right of children from care home to live in the family with parents or foster parents and to provide the improvement techniques for the implementation of the child care system. Interviews revealed that the care home staff admits the importance of the relationship between the child and his parents and other family members for the psychosocial development of the child and try to strengthen the relationship between children and their parents .Child care home staff constructs situations for children to meet with parents as often as possible, activate and support communication with the relatives and the loved ones of the ward. The external resources are searched to solve the problems of the wards: children are incorporated into foster families, stimulate foster families to take care of the wards for weekends or holidays, also wards visit the families of home care workers. However, the analysis of activities and experiences of care home staff revealed that not enough attention is paid to solve the problems of wards’ right to live in the family. According to the current situation, care home staff express concerns about the passivity of foster parents and indifference to their children. The care home staff recognizes that usually the one-way communication takes place with families. The employees of child care home dominate by promoting parents to visit their children, while parents remain passive. On the other hand, care home staff believe that solving child custody issues is not enough to provide material support to families of social risk or to record the facts about child neglect, as well as to distinguish it from the destructive social environment and to provide public care. Comments of the research suggest that while solving the questions of welfare of wards and their right to live in the family, it is necessary to improve the work with families that pass on their children’s care to the state custody. It is important to provide parents of wards social-psychological support, to involve them in educational work and solution of relationship problems between ward and his family also it is necessary to include a range of institutions that work with parents. Workers believe that parents need to be given impetus to reform and strengthen their self-confidence and their own capabilities to care of their child and take the responsibility; also it is necessary to encourage parents to get the children back and bring them up the family, to emphasize their importance and necessity to the child. While discussing the opportunities for wards to live in the family, care home staff emphasize the importance of short-term assistance and full care as well as the need to integrate wards into adequate families. It is considered that the integration of the wards into foster families increase the opportunities for children deprived of parental care to build successfully strong families and construct a family relationship. The care home staff agree that living in a care home, foster children form a distorted perception of the family. It is possible to notice the lack of perspective regarding the preparation of foster children and teenagers for their future family life because usually the solutions of problems are restricted to oral remarks or conversations in care homes. Workers of care home believe that the absence of a real family model for wards will impede them to build strong families in the future. Some of the most successful assumptions that could help to reduce rising number of child care institutions are: social assistance and support system in targeting prevention work; provision of services to families by encouraging parents to get the child back to a family; to ensure that social risk families could integrate into the labor market; education and social assistance programs that help to restore a positive family experience, thereby educating the orphans, that grew up in foster homes; education about a family life; the integration and preparation of children psychologically and educationally; taking care of the child’s, families morally and legally.

This paper traces the history of child welfare in Victoria, from the formation of the Children's Welfare Department to the present time. It draws principally upon the Annual Reports of the responsible state government department, to illustrate trends in out-of-home placement for children and young people admitted to care. It describes substantial shifts in direction to the institutions in the 1960s, deinstitutionalisation of the 1980s, and the re-emergence of home-based care as a favoured, economical option.The paper traces the ebbs and flows in numbers, periods of overcrowding and the current reduced number of children and young people in care. It notes events impacting on evolving child welfare history in Victoria, the child migration program, building projects, the establishment of family group homes, regionalisation, external review, the Children and Young Persons Act (1989), and mandatory reporting legislation. Themes emerging include: early child welfare as a period of rescue and reform; the monitoring of standards and re-entry of the department to residential care; the building of institutions and rising numbers in care; redevelopment and the emergence of a community focus; the expansion of child protection; and the phasing out of old models and the search for cost efficient alternatives.A challenge for the 1990s is the need for deliberate and planned monitoring and evaluation as institutional and residential care give way to home-based care, and numbers of admissions decrease. The paper aims to provide useful, historical material for readers with an interest in child welfare work which would benefit from a descriptive review of the past.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on an evaluation of a pilot of specialist foster care for children at risk, or victims, of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and/or trafficking. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopted a multi-case study approach, gathering placement documentation, interviews and weekly monitoring logs throughout the duration of the 13 placements. Findings – This evaluation found that safety for those at risk, or victims, of CSE within the in-care population has both a physical and a relational element. The most successful placements were able to deploy restrictive safety measures effectively by tipping the balance of care and control towards demonstrations of compassion and acceptance. Good relationships in these foster homes unlocked other positive outcomes, including reduced missing incidences and increased awareness of exploitation. Research limitations/implications – The small sample size within this pilot project suggests the need for further research to test the applicability of the notion of multi-dimensional safety to young people’s welfare more generally. Practical implications – The findings confirm previous research that highlights the importance of stable relationships in child protection. They have implications for current tendencies to commission short-term CSE interventions that are unlikely to create the relational security that can improve community safety for young people. Originality/value – This is the first published evaluation of specialist accommodation for those affected by CSE in the UK, and its findings will therefore be of most value to commissioners and providers of care to looked after young people. The concept of multi-dimensional safety will be relevant to those with responsibility for child welfare/safeguarding.

Abstract In 2020, the Center of Innovation for Veteran Centered and Value Driven Care (COIN) continued its monitoring and evaluation of the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Foster Home (MFH) programs expansion into rural areas. Veterans in MFHs are provided 24/7 care by VA trained and supervised community caregivers and primary care by VA Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) teams. One year after the three-year (2017-2019) expansion funds stopped, COIN continued monitoring remaining programs. Objectives were to understand factors critical for program expansion and sustainability and the impact of COVID-19. Phone interviews were conducted with sixteen coordinators from seventeen programs. A thematic analysis approach was used to address the evaluation objectives using transcript data. Findings showed factors important to program sustainability were: 1) Program fit (finding caregivers in the community); and 2) Local VA facility support (staffing, adaptation, and local leadership support). COVID prompted losing some caregivers and prevented others from joining. Program staffing was not impacted as many program activities ceased. Recreational therapists (RTs) were significant to maintaining Veterans well-being and reducing social isolation through virtual activities. COVID required coordinators transition their supervision of MFHs to new virtual environments and HBPC to increase telehealth to new levels. Local leadership became important to monitoring local conditions and providing support to programs. The evaluation: 1) Found factors important to program sustainability were also critical to keeping programs operational during the pandemic; and 2) Stimulated future research on the suitability of MFH programs to meet challenges to resurgences of COVID or other national emergencies.

As the number of children in foster care without a familial placement continues to grow, the child welfare system is turning towards a new placement approach called Residential Treatment Foster Care. This study performed a process evaluation of 30 Residential Treatment Foster Care facilities in Los Angeles County that explored the four characteristics of case plan design, team decision-making, therapeutic intervention, staff training, and overall treatment effectiveness with regards to the number of Absences Without Leave (AWOL) and completion of treatment plan.

The purpose of this study is to determine what factors contribute to a foster family's ability and desire to remain active in fostering after two years. The sample of this research was selected from Bienvenidos Foster Family Agency, a private non-profit social service organization in the Los Angeles County.

This study proposed to explore several factors that promote foster parent satisfaction in order to preserve quality foster homes to serve the 532,000 displaced children currently in the child welfare system. A sample of 52 foster parents were surveyed to determine overall satisfaction with their foster care experience at Children's Way Foster Family Agency in San Bernardino, California. It was hypothesized that the higher the level of foster parent satisfaction, the higher rates of retention. A modified version of an existing instrument titled "Foster Parent Satisfaction Survey" was utilized in this study.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka vilken typ av brister som anmäls till IVO iärenden som rör familjehemsvård inom socialtjänsten och hur dessa brister kanförstås utifrån ett förändringsperspektiv. I denna kvalitativa dokumentstudie har 30klagomål analyserats utifrån en innehållsanalys av sekundärdata. Resultatet påvisaratt både familjehem och vårdnadshavare upplevt brister i kommunikationen från ochmed socialtjänsten, det visar även att det skett en särbehandling mellanvårdnadshavare. Studien visar att klagomålen berör olika områden, dock ger flertaletklagande uttryck för att de inte känner sig lyssnade på. I diskussionen diskuterasresultatet utifrån studiens centrala begrepp, tolkningsram samt tidigare forskning.Studiens resultat och diskussion visar att det finns ett behov av att stärkakommunikationen mellan socialtjänsten och dess brukare, en viktig faktor i det äratt försöka säkerställa att information mottagits och förståtts på ett korrekt sätt.
The purpose with this essay was to research what type of flaws reported in casesabout family home care in the social services and how they can be understood froma change perspective. In this qualitative document study, 30 complaints have beenanalyzed with content analysis of secondary data. The result shows that both familyhomes and caregivers have experienced communication flaws from and with thesocial services, it also shows that there has been special treatment betweencaregivers. The flaws concern different areas, many express that they do not feellistened to. In the discussion, the results are discussed based on the study's keyconcepts, interpretive framework and previous research. The results and discussionshow that there is a need to strengthen the communication between the socialservices and its users, an important factor is to ensure that information is receivedand understood in a correct way.

The purpose of this study is to explore how emancipated youth, who are clients of the aftercare ILP (Independent Living Program) and transitional housing program with Cameron Hill, evaluate those services.