Academics cast doubt on care reforms
Tom Lloyd
Friday, March 28, 2008
Placing children who have been removed from their parents' care with relatives should not be seen as a "panacea", academics have warned.
A study carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford for the Department for Children, Schools and Families has concluded that family and friends care, also known as kinship care, can be successful, but it is not straightforward.
The government's implementation plan for its care reforms, Care Matters: Time to Deliver, states that local authorities should consider family and friends care before other options.
The researchers looked at 113 cases where the courts had removed children from their parents because of child protection concerns in two local authorities between 1995 and 2001. They then followed up the cases in 2004 and 2005.
The results gave a mixed picture. Some findings suggested kinship care may be more likely to lead to a successful placement, while others are less supportive. However, the nature of the study and the relatively small control group make it difficult to establish clear patterns.
The researchers recommend that kinship care should be promoted, but say there should be more training for social workers on the subject and better support tools should be developed.
They also say local authority support for kinship care placements should be improved, possibly by contracting out, and the financing of kinship care through a national benefit for carers "should be seriously considered".
The government's implementation plan for its care reforms, Care Matters: Time to Deliver, states that local authorities should consider family and friends care before other options.
The researchers looked at 113 cases where the courts had removed children from their parents because of child protection concerns in two local authorities between 1995 and 2001. They then followed up the cases in 2004 and 2005.
The results gave a mixed picture. Some findings suggested kinship care may be more likely to lead to a successful placement, while others are less supportive. However, the nature of the study and the relatively small control group make it difficult to establish clear patterns.
The researchers recommend that kinship care should be promoted, but say there should be more training for social workers on the subject and better support tools should be developed.
They also say local authority support for kinship care placements should be improved, possibly by contracting out, and the financing of kinship care through a national benefit for carers "should be seriously considered".
