Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T03:40:24.750Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Are we setting children in care and their care givers up to fail?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2018

Nicola Atwool*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work, University of Otago
*
address for correspondence: Nicola Atwool, Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work, University of Otago – Te Whare Wananga o Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The question in the title is addressed by exploring the challenges inherent in providing care for children who are unable to live with their birth families. It is argued that failure to interrogate the assumptions underlying traditional foster care and take account of changes in family structure and socioeconomic circumstances has created a situation in which children in care and their care givers are being set up to fail. Changes needed to address this are outlined.

Type
Opinion Piece
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atwool, N. R. (1999). Attachment and post-intervention decision-making. Journal of Child Centred Practice, 6 (1), 3955.Google Scholar
Atwool, N. R. (2006). Attachment and resilience: Implications for children in care. Child Care in Practice, 12 (4), 315330.Google Scholar
Atwool, N. R. (2008). Who cares? The role of attachment assessments in decision-making for children in care. Unpublished PhD thesis, Otago University, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Atwool, N. R. (2010). Children in care. Wellington NZ: Office of the Children's Commissioner.Google Scholar
Atwool, N. R. (2016). Journeys of exclusion: Unpacking the experience of adolescent care leavers in New Zealand. In Mendes, P. & Snow, P. (Eds.), Young people transitioning from out of home care (pp. 309328). London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori perspective for the Department of Social Welfare (1988). Puao-Te-Ata-Tu (Daybreak). Wellington, NZ: Department of Social Welfare.Google Scholar
Ministry of Social Development (2015a). Modernising child youth and family. Expert panel interim report. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.Google Scholar
Ministry of Social Development (2015b). Expert panel final report. Investing in New Zealand's Children and Families. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.Google Scholar
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score. United Kingdom: Penguin.Google Scholar