Clive Sellick

Independent fostering agencies: Providing high quality services to children and carers?

Independent fostering agencies have grown significantly in recent years in an era which encouraged the expansion of non-governmental welfare services. Clive Sellick reviews the practice and research literature in respect of this placement sector and its associated services to children and foster carers. He also summarises some major issues which have emerged from the recent evaluation of one independent fostering agency. The views of agency foster carers and local authority social workers are considered, alongside case material relating to children placed. Conclusions are drawn about the future relationship between public and independent fostering agencies.

The use of institutional care for children across Europe

Abstract This article describes the use and prevalence of institutional or residential care of children in Europe. It looks at systems in Western European countries and in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and discusses some of the difficulties in making comparisons across and within Europe. The author takes a wide view of the available literature, government and non-governmental statistics and case studies across the continent of Europe. Taking account of regional and national variations, he describes two broadly different approaches for children and their families and identifies trends in institutional and non-institutional care in the continent of Europe. In Western Europe there has been a marked reduction in the use of residential care, accompanied by the development of non-institutional family based care and support services. Whilst there are good child-centred reasons for this shift in provision, some countries have gone too far in reducing residential care and are facing a shortfall in suitab...

The Aims and Principles of Independent Fostering Agencies: A View from the Inside

Attitudes within the wider child placement public sector towards the place of independent fostering agencies remain largely negative, especially when expressed by local authority senior managers. Clive Sellick considers these alongside some other views that have emerged from the findings of relevant research. He goes on to examine the mission statements of 55 independent fostering agencies included in a recent national survey of the services, costs, staff, foster carers and children and young people in placement in these agencies. The author has undertaken a qualitative analysis of these statements in order to identify the aims and principles that underpin agency practice. Three main themes emerge relating to promoting childrens welfare, providing a range of services for children and carers and creating a competent and available foster carer workforce. These are considered alongside the profiles of ten agencies to illustrate the breadth of provision available to local authorities. The author concludes by suggesting that information about the purpose and provision of independent fostering is likely to lead to a more balanced view and use of this sector.

An examination of adoption support services for birth relatives and for post-adoption contact in England and Wales

Support services for the birth relatives of adopted children have received far less research scrutiny than those for adopters and the children themselves. Clive Sellick reports the first stage ‘mapping’ survey of a government-commissioned study into birth relative support services and services supporting contact following changes in policy and legislation. The type, range and delivery of such services, commissioned or provided by local authority and voluntary adoption agencies and adoption support agencies in England and Wales, are examined. The survey found that good opportunities exist for linking birth relative and contact support services. However, real challenges remain in promoting support services and reaching birth relatives and in funding and commissioning such services, particularly from the non-governmental sector.

The Role of Social Workers in Supporting and Developing the Work of Foster Carers.

The quality of relations between social workers and foster carers can virtually make or break a placement. Clive Sellick uses a wide range of social work literature to examine some of the conditions needed for these relations to succeed, both in the realm of practical organisation and in terms of individual qualities such as reliability, honesty, empathy and warmth.

Relational contracting between local authorities and independent fostering providers: lessons in conducting business for child welfare managers

Policy developments since 1997 have changed the nature of foster care placements and related educational and therapeutic services. A succession of initiatives aimed at improving placement quality, choice and stability for children and their foster families has had two major impacts. The first is the significant expansion of independent fostering providers (IFPs) alongside local authority fostering agencies. The second has been the change in attitude and working arrangements between staff and managers in both these sectors as they adjust to the governments commissioning agenda for the mixed economy of foster care provision. Although the first area has received some research scrutiny, the second area has not. In the absence of a relevant social work literature base this article explores a series of legal and policy studies of ‘relational contracting’ alongside a recent study of working arrangements between local authority and IFP managers. It concludes that there are lessons to be learnt for fostering agencies from these studies of contracting and the practice of trust.

A description and evaluation of a social work training programme in Moldova

This article describes and evaluates one of several international social work initiatives in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It highlights one British universitys short teaching programme in the former Soviet, but now independent, Republic of Moldova. Participants came from four Moldovan universities, non-governmental organisations and government ministries. They spent 2 weeks, funded by the local UNICEF office, with British and Romanian colleagues exploring the development of social work teaching and practice. The programme focused on child and family social work. Subject areas included theories of child development, research studies of child placement and family support, and relevant social policy determining social work practice in areas such as child protection and adoption. The teaching sessions were delivered via a range of lectures, seminars, discussion groups and practical exercises. The presenters learnt much from the evaluations of the participants about the potential effectiveness of such international teaching programmes. Learning opportunities were maximised by sound preparation and review by the presenters, interim evaluations by the participants and the extensive translations of teaching materials. Successful outcomes were underpinned by ongoing efforts to apply and contextualise the teaching methods and content to the traditions, experiences and needs of the Moldovan participants.

Can child and family social work research really assist practice

British social workers at the sharp end of foster care and social work practice have experienced a flood of official reports in recent years (Association of Directors of Social Services, 1997; Utting, 1997; Warren, 1997), mostly, though not exclusively, highlighting the problems of too few placements for an increasingly challenging number of children and young people. In addition, British and North American foster care research over the past twenty years has shown how children in public, including foster, care have been:

Messages from Australia: Significant Harm: Unravelling Child Protection Decisions and Substitute Care Careers for ChildrenSignificant Harm: Unravelling Child Protection Decisions and Substitute Care Careers for ChildrenFernandezElizabethAvebury305 pages £37.50

Lecturer In Social Work at the University of East Anglla this journal may find that their world of child care and child protection is not addressed as directly as they are now coming to expect. The increasing use of research to underpin practice is also not as prominent as it might be. Despite a useful chapter on evaluation techniques, there is not much material that analyses the research base for this approach. This book poses important questions and provides some useful answers, and the fact that it offers various alternatives to current policy and practice is welcome. It contributes to an important debate about the nature of social work in the 1990s, and provides a good source of practical ideas, especially around the development of self-help approaches.