Alfreda P. Iglehart

Kinship foster care: Placement, service, and outcome issues

Abstract Kinship foster care is now being debated. Issues have emerged about the cost of this care, the suitability of the kinship home, and agency supervision. Little data exist, however, about the functioning of minors in kinship foster care. Data from a Los Angeles County study of 990 adolescents in foster family care are used to compare 352 adolescents in kinship care to 638 adolescents in non-relative foster family care. The two groups are compared on placement history, placement adjustment, and agency monitoring. In addition, 160 foster adolescents with legal guardians were studied. Results indicate that the kinship placement is more stable and that adolescents in a relatives care are less likely to have a serious mental health problem. Overall, kinship care teens are doing no less well than their counterparts in foster family care. Neither group, however, is problem free. The data on monitoring and legal guardianship do suggest that services should be supplied with equal vigor to the kinship foster care minors.

Readiness for independence: Comparison of foster care, kinship care, and non-foster care adolescents

Abstract Data from Los Angeles County are used to compare 63 non-foster care adolescents with 42 adolescents placed in kinship care and 69 adolescents in non-relative foster family care in their readiness for independent living. Bivariate analysis revealed that foster care and non-foster care adolescents are not significantly different in perceptions of independent living skill levels, type of employment they held, and perceived overall preparation for independent living. Non-relative foster care adolescents, however, were more likely than the other two groups to believe particular skills were self-taught, work full-time, work more than 40 hours a week, and not expect to live with a relative after emancipation/high school. These differences remained even after ethnicity and gender were controlled. Foster care adolescents, in general, were more likely to worry about their future and expect to support themselves after emancipation/high school. Implications for service delivery and social policy are drawn from these findings.

Ethnic-Sensitive Practice: Contradictions and Recommendations.

SUMMARY This article identifies some of the contradictions at the theoretical, attitudinal, and behavioral levels that are inherent in current approaches to ethnic-sensitive practice, including: (1) diversity and the history of the profession; (2) ethnicity as a credential; (3) the differential status of minority groups; and (4) the reliance on self-awareness. Recommendations are presented to stimulate thinking outside and beyond the box, such as redefining and expanding approaches to ethnic-sensitive practice; creating agency environments that support ethnic-sensitive practice; and expanding ethnic-sensitive practice to include a focus on the structures, institutions, and policies that are required for the sustained implementation of ethnic-sensitive practice.

Adolescents in foster care: Factors affecting the worker youth relationship

Abstract This study explores factors in the development of the worker-youth relationships. A successful foster placement often requires a child welfare system that is sensitive to and supportive of the needs of the client and the child protective services worker is a key element of this organization. The worker-client relationship is one means by which the organization fulfills its care giving responsibility and provides necessary feedback to the agency. Data for this study are from a six-month follow-up assessment of 907 adolescents in out-of-home placement under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Department of Childrens Services. Those youths likely to have a relationship with their worker were adolescents: a) placed when they were 14 or older; b) those youths who had no change in worker; c) those youths with a problem in only one area of functioning; and d) those youths who expected to remain in touch with their worker after foster care. Implications for child welfare service delivery to foster adolescents and research directions are drawn from these findings.

Book Review: Screwing the System and Making it WorkScrewing the System and Making It Work. By JacobsMark D.. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990. 296 pp.

to interfere with functioning of one or more members of a family. Previewing, as described and utilized by Paul Trad, introduces an innovative theory for achieving better understanding of the effects of components of all interactions between infant and caregiver on both members of a particular dyad. Armed with this understanding, practical techniques are presented that can be utilized by the therapist for minimizing deficits and maximizing strengths within a specific relationship. The expectation is that application of these techniques will prevent the development of more serious problems in the future. According to Trad,