IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v69y2016icp56-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparing long-term placements for young children in care: Does placement type really matter?

Author

Listed:
  • McSherry, Dominic
  • Fargas Malet, Montserrat
  • Weatherall, Kerrylee

Abstract

This paper presents findings from the third phase of a longitudinal study, entitled Care Pathways and Outcomes, which has been tracking the placements and measuring outcomes for a population of children (n=374) who were under the age of five and in care in Northern Ireland on the 31st March 2000. It explores how a sub-sample of these children at age nine to 14years old were getting on in the placements provided for them, in comparative terms across five placement types: adoption; foster care; kinship foster care (with relatives); on Residence Order; and living with birth parents. This specifically focused on the development of attachment and self-concept from the perspective of the children, and behavioural and emotional function, and parenting stress, from the perspective of parents and carers. Findings showed no significant placement effect from the perspective of children, and a statistically weak, but descriptively compelling, effect from the perspective of parents. The findings challenge the notion of adoption as the gold standard in long-term placements, specifically from the perspective of children in terms of their parent/carer attachments and self-concept, and highlight what appears to be the central importance of placement longevity for delivering positive longer-term outcomes for these children, irrespective of placement type.

Suggested Citation

  • McSherry, Dominic & Fargas Malet, Montserrat & Weatherall, Kerrylee, 2016. "Comparing long-term placements for young children in care: Does placement type really matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 56-66.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:69:y:2016:i:c:p:56-66
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.07.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740916302377
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.07.021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stein, Mike & Dumaret, Annick-Camille, 2011. "The mental health of young people aging out of care and entering adulthood: Exploring the evidence from England and France," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2504-2511.
    2. Chartier, M.J. & Walker, J.R. & Naimark, B., 2009. "Health risk behaviors and mental health problems as mediators of the relationship between childhood abuse and adult health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(5), pages 847-854.
    3. Mooney, Jennifer & Winter, Karen & Connolly, Paul, 2016. "Effects of a book gifting programme on literacy outcomes for foster children: A randomised controlled trial evaluation of the Letterbox Club in Northern Ireland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-8.
    4. Coakley, Tanya M. & Cuddeback, Gary & Buehler, Cheryl & Cox, Mary Ellen, 2007. "Kinship foster parents' perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 92-109, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Klapp, Alli, 2019. "Differences in educational achievement in norm- and criterion-referenced grading systems for children and youth placed in out-of-home care in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 408-417.
    2. Fawley-King, Kya & Trask, Emily V. & Ferrand, John & Aarons, Gregory A., 2020. "Caregiver strain among biological, foster, and adoptive caregivers caring for youth receiving outpatient care in a public mental health system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    3. Olayinka M. Onayemi & David Imhonopi & Isaac A. Oyekola, 2022. "Neglecting the Neglected: Encumbrances to Children’s Successful Transitioning From Orphanages to Adoptive Homes in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    4. Neagu, Mariela & Sebba, Judy, 2019. "Who do they think they are: Making sense of self in residential care, foster care, and adoption," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Lee, Junghee & Powers, Laurie & Geenen, Sarah & Schmidt, Jessica & Blakeslee, Jennifer & Hwang, Insik, 2018. "Mental health outcomes among youth in foster care with disabilities," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 27-34.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olayinka M. Onayemi & David Imhonopi & Isaac A. Oyekola, 2022. "Neglecting the Neglected: Encumbrances to Children’s Successful Transitioning From Orphanages to Adoptive Homes in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    2. Storer, Heather L. & Barkan, Susan E. & Stenhouse, Linnea L. & Eichenlaub, Caroline & Mallillin, Anastasia & Haggerty, Kevin P., 2014. "In search of connection: The foster youth and caregiver relationship," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 110-117.
    3. Van Holen, Frank & Van Loock, Julie & Belenger, Laurence & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2017. "Concept mapping the needs of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 159-167.
    4. Gairal-Casadó, Regina & Garcia-Yeste, Carme & Novo-Molinero, Maria Teresa & Salvadó-Belarta, Zoel, 2019. "Out of school learning scientific workshops: Stimulating institutionalized Adolescents' educational aspirations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-126.
    5. Connolly, Paul & Sebba, Judy & Winter, Karen & Roberts, Jennifer & Tah, Priya & Millen, Sharon, 2023. "The effectiveness of book-gifting programmes to enhance the reading skills of children in care: A randomised controlled trial of ‘Reading Together’ in England," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    6. Sigrun Sigurdardottir & Sigridur Halldorsdottir, 2018. "Screaming Body and Silent Healthcare Providers: A Case Study with a Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivor," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Evans, Rhiannon & Hallett, Sophie & Rees, Alyson & Roberts, Louise, 2016. "The acceptability of educational Interventions: Qualitative evidence from children and young people in care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 68-76.
    8. Harding, Leith & Murray, Kate & Shakespeare-Finch, Jane & Frey, Ron, 2018. "High stress experienced in the foster and kin carer role: Understanding the complexities of the carer and child in context," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 316-326.
    9. Hagleitner, Wolfgang & Sting, Stephan & Maran, Thomas, 2022. "Socio-economic status and living situation of care leavers in Austria," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Lindner, Abigail Rose & Hanlon, Ryan, 2024. "Outcomes of youth with foster care experiences based on permanency outcome – Adoption, aging out, long-term foster care, and reunification: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Mai Stafford & Catharine R Gale & Gita Mishra & Marcus Richards & Stephanie Black & Diana L Kuh, 2015. "Childhood Environment and Mental Wellbeing at Age 60-64 Years: Prospective Evidence from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, June.
    12. Park, Aely & Kim, Youngmi, 2018. "The longitudinal influence of child maltreatment on child obesity in South Korea: The mediating effects of low self-esteem and depressive symptoms," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 34-40.
    13. Van Holen, Frank & Trogh, Lenny & West, Delphine & Meys, Nina & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2019. "Concept mapping the needs of Flemish nonkinship foster parents who care for unaccompanied refugee minors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 84-92.
    14. Roberts, Jennifer & Winter, Karen & Connolly, Paul, 2017. "The Letterbox Club book gifting intervention: Findings from a qualitative evaluation accompanying a randomised controlled trial," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 467-473.
    15. Calheiros, Maria Manuela & Patrício, Joana Nunes & Graça, João, 2013. "Staff and youth views on autonomy and emancipation from residential care: A participatory research study," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 57-66.
    16. Valdez-Santiago, Rosario & Híjar, Martha & Rojas Martínez, Rosalba & Ávila Burgos, Leticia & Arenas Monreal, María de la Luz, 2013. "Prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence in women living in eight indigenous regions of Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 51-57.
    17. Day, Angelique & Willis, Tamarie & Vanderwill, Lori & Resko, Stella & Patterson, Debra & Henneman, Kris & Cohick, Sue, 2018. "Key factors and characteristics of successful resource parents who care for older youth: A systematic review of research," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 152-158.
    18. Durbeej, Natalie & Hellner, Clara, 2017. "Improving school performance among Swedish foster children: A quasi-experimental study exploring outcomes of the Skolfam model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 466-476.
    19. Refaeli, Tehila & Benbenishty, Rami & Zeira, Anat, 2019. "Predictors of life satisfaction among care leavers: A mixed-method longitudinal study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 146-155.
    20. Brown, Adam & Courtney, Mark E. & Curtis McMillen, J., 2015. "Behavioral health needs and service use among those who've aged-out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 163-169.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:69:y:2016:i:c:p:56-66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.