Posted on by Peter Sidebotham

Children and Families and the Care System

The latest issue of Child Abuse Review is now available online, with an editorial by my co-editor, Jane Appleton in which she explores some of the complex issues of working with these children and young people, and the huge challenges they may face:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The papers in this issue revisit the very important subject of children in public
care, which Child Abuse Review most recently examined in a themed issue in
2014 (Appleton and Sidebotham, 2014). Significantly, the latest statistics on
children looked after in England show a steady rise in the numbers of children
in care since 2009, with 69 540 children being ‘looked after’ at 31 March 2015,
‘an increase of 6% compared to 31 March 2011’ (Department for Education,
2015, p. 1). While this trend is not mirrored in Scotland or Wales, children
in the public care system are recognised as being some of the most vulnerable
in society with high levels of need, particularly around emotional wellbeing
and mental health (Bentley et al., 2016). In the UK, most children are placed
with foster families, with other placements including children’s homes, secure
units, hostels and with their parents under social care supervision. Children and
young people enter the care system for different reasons, but for many it is as a
result of abuse and neglect. The experience of being in care, as DEMOS (2010,
p. 11) has noted, ‘clearly serves some g roups of children better than others’ and
there is considerable interest in the outcomes of young people’s care
experiences.
.
.

Children in the public care system are recognised as being some of the most vulnerable

in society with high levels of need, particularly around emotional wellbeing
and mental health
You can read the full editorial, which is freely available online, here.
 .
.

Table of Contents

Children and Families and the Care System (pages 247–250)

Jane V. Appleton

 

Out-of-Home Care versus In-home Care for Children Who Have Been Maltreated: A Systematic Review of Health and Wellbeing Outcomes (pages 251–272)

Miriam J. Maclean, Scott Sims, Melissa O’Donnell and Ruth Gilbert

 

A Life Less Ordinary: Foster Carers’ Views and Experiences of Negative Peer Interactions in Fostering Households (pages 273–286)

Christine Barter and Eleanor Lutman

 

Applications of the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment with Children Involved in Care and Family Proceedings (pages 287–299)

Daniel T. Wilcox and Clark Baim

 

Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder and Risk of Child Maltreatment (pages 300–313)

Sarah Laulik, Jayne Allam and Kevin Browne

 

‘Teachers Matter’: The Impact of Mandatory Reporting on Teacher Education in Ireland (pages 314–324)

Ashling Bourke and Catherine Maunsell