Frank Ainsworth

Kinship care: False dawn or new hope?

Abstract This article draws attention to the increased use of kinship care as a form of out-of-home care for children in Australia. It presents the findings of recent United States research on family reunification from kinship care and on the outcome of kinship care versus nonrelative foster care. The final part of the article lists a set of questions that need to be answered so that guidelines for the use of kinship care can be developed to assist practitioners in decision making.

Towards New Models of Professional Foster Care

Foster care for children and young people is in crisis in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA, as elsewhere. For this reason, the proposal by Barbara Hutchinson and her associates (see Adoption & Fostering 27:3, 2003) is timely and noteworthy. In line with their argument regarding professionalisation of foster care services, Frank Ainsworth and Anthony Maluccio recommend that new models of foster care also need to be considered. Two models are suggested for further review: (1) Family for Family, which involves the recruitment of a foster family for a birth family; and (2) Circle of Friends, which is designed for children and young people whose behaviours exhaust traditional foster carers. If developed further, these models, like those of Walker et al (2002) and Chamberlain (2003), would add to the diversity of foster care services and make for a greater range of possible placements.

A “No blame” approach to work with families of children and adolescents in residential care

This article describes an approach to family work developed in an innovative residentially based learning and living program for male and female acting out adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 years. The family work is an integral part of the program which emphasizes the maintenance of links between the adolescents and their family, the improvement of family relationships, the continuation of family responsibility and the restoration of parental authority.

Family Centered Group Care Practice: Model Building

This paper presents the results of a study that sought to validate a model of family centered group care conceptualized by Ainsworth and Small (1994). The Trieschman Carolinas family centered group care training and consultancy project provided the data base for the study. The implications of the findings for future research are discussed.

Parent education and training or family therapy: Does it matter which comes first?

This paper raises questions about the appropriate focus for residential group care programs as they work with parents (including single parents) of children in care. Many programs, in their efforts to claim status as treatment centers, have broadened their range of services and now include therapeutic services for parents, in particular family therapy. However, there has not been a serious examination of whether therapeutic approaches to work with families fit the group care service context. This paper will address concerns about using family therapy in group care programs and will suggest that parent education and training is a more effective alternative.

Group care workers as parent educators

Using a model of group care practice that identifies seven areas of child care worker activity and skill, this paper shows how these skills can be used in work with parents and other family members of children in placement. The emphasis is on the child care worker’s role as parent educator. This approach transforms the 24-hour-per day group care environment, and the living unit in particular, into a classroom for teaching and learning parenting skills. The educational, policy, and resource consequences of this proposal are then discussed. Finally, this model of practice is linked to psychoeducational, family resource, and competency-based approaches to family intervention and social work practice. All of these models de-emphasize family pathology in favor of practice that views parents and family members as partners in the care and treatment process.

Family centred group care practice Concept and implementation

This article cites the international research evidence that supports family centred group care practice. A working definition, the key assumption and an orientation to group care and family work compatible with family centred group care practice is then articulated. This is followed by a set of practice guidelines and identification of the key characteristics of family centred group care agencies.

A research agenda for group care

This paper presents a research agenda for group care. The agenda is organized around six themes—demographic data, program typology, differential placement criteria, group care as a venue for child rearing, testing new service programs, and the education and training of group care practitioners. Each theme is accompanied by a comment about the methodological issues that will be encountered as this agenda is pursued.

The Rush to Independence. . . A New Tyranny

It is suggested that the fashionable ‘independent living skills approach’ of many residential programmes for older children and youth fails to adequately take account of developmental needs. It also promotes the idea that political rather than professional considerations are the prime reason for the growth of this approach.