Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T09:48:48.276Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing the care journey: Meeting the health care needs of children in out-of-home care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Brenda Clare
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper looks at the issues impacting on the physical and mental health of children placed in out-of-home care and at the capacity of the care system to recognise and respond to those needs. It draws on the findings of a recent exploratory research project in Perth, commissioned by the General Practitioners’ Evaluation Programme (GPEP), in which the author participated as a researcher. The paper focuses in particular on the paucity of information about the child’s journey through the care system, reflecting on the aggregate ‘snap-shot’ focus on cohorts and ‘children as through-puts’, rather than on individualised, longitudinal profiles of placed children. A typology of care journeys is presented as a potential framework for locating and mapping children’s experiences.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , 2001 , pp. 27 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

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

BAAF (1998), ‘Quality protects: The Children’s Safeguards Review’, BAAF Medical Group Seminar, London.Google Scholar
Bamford, F.N. & Wolkind, S.N. (1988), The Physical and Mental Health of Children in Care: Two papers, London: ESRC.Google Scholar
Beal, J.; Blom-Cooper, L.; Brown, B.; Marshall, P. & Mason, M. (1985), A Child in Trust: The Report of the Panel of Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Jasmine Beckford, London: London Borough of Brent.Google Scholar
Berg (1994), Family Based Services: A Solution-Focused Approach, New York: Norton and Co.Google Scholar
Blatt, S.; Saletsky, R.; Meguid, V.; Church, C.; O’Hara, M.; Haller-Peck, S. & Anderson, J. (1997), ‘A comprehensive, muhidisciplinary approach to providing health care for children in out-of-home care,’ Child Welfare, 76(2), 331–47.Google Scholar
Broad, B. (1999), ‘Improving the health of Children and Young People Leaving Care’, Adoption and Fostering, 23(1):40–48.Google Scholar
Butler, I. & Payne, H. (1999), ‘The health of children looked after by the local authority’, in: Hill, M. (Ed.) Signposts in Fostering. London: BAAF.Google Scholar
Carlson, K. (1996), ‘Providing health care for children in foster care: a role for advanced practice nurses’, Pediatric Nursing, 22(5):418–22.Google Scholar
Cavanagh, J. (1992), ‘Children and young people in out-of-home care: Treating and preventing individual, programmatic and systems abuse’, Children Australia, 17(2): 17–25.Google Scholar
Chernoff, R.; Combs-Orme, T.; Curtiss, C.R. & Heisler, A. (1994), ‘Assessing the health status of children entering foster care’, Pediatrics, 93(4):594–601.Google Scholar
CSC (2000), Inquiry into the practice and provision of substitute care in NSW: Forwards, backwards, standing still…’, Sydney: Community Services Commission.Google Scholar
Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1998), ‘Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research’, in: Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.) The Landscape of Qualitative Research, Thousand Islands, California: Sage.Google Scholar
DHSS (1983), Social Work Decisions in Child Care: Recent Research Findings and Their Implications, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
DoH (2000), Consultation Document: Promoting Health for Looked After Children – A Guide to Healthcare Planning, Assessment and Monitoring.Google Scholar
DoH (1999), Children Looked After by Local authorities: Report and Proceedings of the Health Committee, London: The House of Commons.Google Scholar
DoH (1998), Caring for Children Away from Home: Messages from Research, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
DoH (1995a), Child Protection: Messages from Research, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
DoH (1995b), The Challenge of Partnership in Child Protection: Practice Guide, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
DoH (1991a), Patterns and Outcomes in Child Placement, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
DoH (1991b), Working Together under the Children Act, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Doorbar, P.; Lewington, T. & Unwin, I. (1995), Hear Us: Children’s Views About Health Services, Portsmouth: Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Commission and Pat Doorbar Associates.Google Scholar
Fahlberg, V.I. (1995), A Child’s Journey Through Placement, London: BAAF.Google Scholar
Family and Children’s Services (1997), Placement Services: Generic Services Specifications, Perth, WA: FCS Google Scholar
Farmer, E. & Owen, M. (1995), Child Protection Practice: Private Risks and Public Remedies, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Feeney, , (2000), ‘Implications of attachment style for patterns of health and illness’, Child: Care, Health & Development, 26(4):277–288.Google Scholar
Guba, E.O. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1998), ‘Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research’, in: Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.), The Landscape of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks California: Sage.Google Scholar
Halfon, N.; Mendonca, A. & Berkowitz, G. (1995), ‘Health status of children in foster care: The Experience of the Centre for the Vulnerable Child’, Arch Pediatric Adolescence Medecin, 149(4):386–92.Google Scholar
Hardiker, P.; Exton, K. & Barker, M. (1997), A Framework for Analysing Services Childhood Matters: Report of the National Commission of Inquiry int the Prevention of Child Abuse, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Hendricks, J.H. (1989), ‘The Health Needs of Young People in Care’, Adoption and Fostering’, 13(1):43–50.Google Scholar
Hill, M. (Ed.) (1999), Signposts in Fostering: Policy, Practice and Research Issues, London: BAAF.Google Scholar
Hochstadt, N.; Jaudes, P.; Zimo, D. & Schachter, J. (1987), ‘The medical and psychosocial needs of children entering foster care’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 11: 53–62.Google Scholar
Jaudes, P.K.; Mackey-Bilaver, L.; Goerge, R.; Catania, C. & Masterson, J. (undated), Foster Children Have a Right To Health Care: The Illinois Model, Chicago: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, The Chapin Hall Centre for Children, Hamilton Bell Associates, University of Chicago, La Rabida Children’s Hospital and Research Centre.Google Scholar
Kagan, R. & Schlosberg, S. (1989), Families in Perpetual Crisis, Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books Canada.Google Scholar
Marmot, M. & Wilkinson, R.G. (Eds.) (1999), Social Determinants of Health, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mather, M.; Batty, D. & Payne, H. (2000), Doctors for Children in Public Care, London: BAAF.Google Scholar
Mather, M.; Humphrey, J. & Robson, J. (1999), ‘The statutory medical and health needs of looked after children’, in: Hill, M. (Ed), Signposts in Fostering: Policy, Practice and Research Issues, London: BAAF.Google Scholar
McCann, J.B.; James, A.; Wilson, S. & Dunn, G. (1998), Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in young people in the care system, Oxford: Oxfordshire Regional Health Authority.Google Scholar
Mostyn, L.W.O. (1997), Childhood Matters: Report of the National Commission of Inquiry into the Prevention of Child Abuse, London: House of Lords.Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, R. & Wood, K. (1994), The Roundabout of Care: A study of Children/Youths who are Difficult to Maintain in Stable Placements, Perth, WA: Department for Community Development.Google Scholar
Owen, J. (1996), Every Childhood Lasts a Lifetime: Personal Stories from the Frontline of Family Breakdown, Brisbane: Australian Association of Young People in Care.Google Scholar
Parker, R.; Ward, H.; Jackson, S.; Aldgate, J. & Wedge, (1991), Looking After Children: Assessing Outcomes in Child Care, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Payne, H. (1995), ‘Medical Notes: Health care of children looked after by the local authority’, Adoption and Fostering, 19(2):55–6.Google Scholar
Pinkney, D. (1994), ‘America’s sickest children’, American Medical News, (January):13–15.Google Scholar
Reder, P.; Duncan, S. & Gray, M. (1993), Beyond Blame: Child Abuse Tragedies Revisited, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schuerman, J.R.; Rzepnicki, T.L. & Littell, J.H. (1994), Putting Families First: An Experiment in Family Preservation, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Scott, D. & O’Neil, D. (1996), Beyond Child Rescue, St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Short (1984). House of Commons Second Report from the Social Services Committee 1983–84 ‘The Short Report’: Children in Care. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Simms, M. (1988), ‘The health surveillance of children in care are there serious problems?’, Adoption and Fostering, 12(4):20–23.Google Scholar
Simms, M. & Halfon, N. (1994), ‘The health care needs of children in foster care: a research agenda’. Child Welfare, 73(5):505–24.Google Scholar
Szilagyi, M. (1998), ‘The pediatrician and the child in foster care’, Pediatric Review, 19(2):39–50.Google Scholar
Underwood, P.; Clare, M.; Gilleatt, S.; Clare, B. and Paley, G. (2000), Understanding and Improving the Provision of General Practitioner Services to Children in State Care, Perth: General Practitioners’ Evaluation Programme (GPEP) and the University of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Ward, H. (Ed.) (1995), Looking After Children: Research into Practice. The Second Report to the Department of health on Assessing Outcomes in Child Care, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Wilson, K. & James, A. (Eds.) (1997), The Child Protection Handbook, London: Bailliere Tindall.Google Scholar