Julie Selwyn

Contact between Children Placed Away from Home and their Birth Parents: Ryburn’s ‘Reanalysis’ Analysed:

Ryburn has critically reviewed our article on the research issues in the study of contact between children placed away from home and their birth parents (Quinton, Rushton, Dance, & Mayes, 1997). We argue that Ryburn seriously misrepresented our position. He also presented a ‘reanalysis’ of the studies we discussed, supplemented with references to other studies that we did not quote, which aimed to show that our conclusions were wrong. In this article we respond to Ryburn’s critique and raise questions concerning his interpretation of data and methods of reviewing that suggest that his conclusions from the research are unreliable.

Stability, Permanence, Outcomes and Support: Foster Care and Adoption Compared:

There are large numbers of children in the care system who are unable to return home and who need a stable permanent placement. Julie Selwyn and David Quinton report some of the findings of a Department of Health-funded study, which followed a complete sample of 130 older children, all of whom had had a best interest decision in favour of adoption as the chosen placement. In the event, not all the children were adopted, making it possible to compare the outcomes of children who were adopted with those who went into long-term foster placements. There were many similarities in the experience of offering an adoptive or foster home to the young people but some key differences were in the stability of placements, the amount of autonomy the adoptive parents/carers had and their views of how close they were to the child and their assessment of the childs closeness to them.

Supporting the Placements of Children Adopted Out of Care

This article reports the findings related to adoption support of a Department of Health-funded study: Costs and Outcomes of Non-infant Adoptions . This is the first UK study to comprehensively examine the support provided by Social Services Departments (SSDs), Health, Education, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) beyond the first year of the adoptive placement. The services provided to 80 children, before Adoption Orders were granted, were examined from SSD records. Interviews with 54 adoptive parents then investigated the services provided to 64 of the 80 children post order. Families were initially supported primarily by Social Services but, post order, Health, Education and CAMHS shouldered most of the support responsibilities. A high proportion of the children were seen by these professionals over the course of the adoptive placements but many adopters felt that the services provided had been ‘too little, too late’. While there were assessments of children’s difficulties, mainstream services typically failed to provide what adopters considered sufficient or effective support. This was also largely true of the services provided by SSDs and is an important message for practitioners if they are to succeed in improving adoption support services.

Supporting Informal Kinship Care

National statistics show that on 31 March 2007 about 7,000 looked after children in England (11% of the total) were placed in kinship care with relatives or friends. There has been no national prevalence study on kinship care in England, so we do not know how many children are living in kinship care arranged informally by family members or friends. However, the Family Rights Group estimates that there are over 200,000 households where kinship carers (usually grandparents) are looking after children who cannot live with their parents. In the London Borough of Greenwich, this hidden population of ‘children in need’ has been targeted for extra support by a Kinship Care Team, which aims to enable children to remain within their family network and to reduce the risk of their becoming ‘looked after’. Hilary Saunders and Julie Selwyn report on their evaluation of this initiative.

More Than Just a Letter: Service User Perspectives on One Local Authority's Adoption postbox service

Postbox contact, in which an adoption agency mediates the exchange of letters between adoptive and birth families, now appears to be the most common contact plan for adopted children. Despite their prevalence, postbox services have received little attention from researchers and is not the subject of any national policy or practice guidance. This article by Julie Selwyn, Lesley Frazer and Peter Wrighton draws on a recent evaluation of one local authoritys postbox service and in particular the perspectives of adopters, birth mothers and extended birth family members using it. The evaluation found that adopters and extended family members were often very committed to sustaining the service for the benefit of children. However, birth fathers were rarely involved and birth mothers had great difficulty in writing, although they valued receiving news of their children. There was considerable scope for disappointment when parties embarked on postbox with different expectations and could not directly communicate their motives and wishes. Overall, the paper concludes that postbox users require more support if this form of contact is to be sustained. It also calls for researchers, practitioners and policy makers to devote further attention to postbox and in particular its longer-term impact on children.

Child neglect An English perspective

This study explores the perceptions of mothers of the seriousness of specific components of neglect compared with those of local authority child protection workers in England. The findings report the mothers’ overall judgements of most categories as more serious than the workers’. Workers and mothers agree on the relative harm of the categories of neglect, in particular which categories of harm are the most and least serious. Implications for social work practice, policy and research are drawn.

Ascertaining children's wishes and feelings in relation to adoption

The last two decades have seen a welcome increase in the recognition of childrens rights, in terms of both public opinion and legislation. When it comes to adoption, however, are childrens wishes and feelings being truly heard? Julie Selwyn discusses the findings of her recent study into this question. After assessing the duties of social workers and guardians, as defined by current legislation and guidance, she reveals the extent to which childrens views sometimes fail to be ascertained during the adoption process. Taking a random sample of files, particular attention is paid to the contents of section O of Schedule 2 reports in which a social worker is specifically required to record a childs ‘wishes and feelings in relation to adoption and the application, including any wishes in respect of religious and cultural upbringing’. The role of guardians is also examined.

Adolescent-to-Parent Violence in Adoptive Families

Adolescent-to-parent violence (APV) has received little attention in the social work literature, although it is known to be a factor in families whose children are at risk of entry to care. The behaviour patterns that characterise APV include coercive control, domination and intimidation. Crucially, parental behaviours are compromised by fear of violence. This article discusses the unexpected findings from two recent adoption studies of previously looked after children in England and Wales. The studies exposed the prevalence of APV in the lives of families who had experienced an adoption disruption and those who were finding parenting very challenging. Two main APV patterns emerged: early onset (pre-puberty) that escalated during adolescence, and late onset that surfaced during puberty and rapidly escalated. The stigma and shame associated with APV delayed help seeking. The response from services was often to blame the adoptive parents and to instigate child protection procedures. There is an urgent need for a greater professional recognition of APV and for interventions to be evaluated with children who have been maltreated and showing symptoms of trauma.

‘Spies, Informers and Double Agents’ — Adoption Assessments and Rule Ambiguity

Adoption and fostering practice has played an important part in developing the concepts of empowerment and partnership in the field of child protection. However, writes Julie Selwyn, the complicated and powerful role of the adoption officer in assessing applicants who wish to adopt has largely been ignored.

The Challenges in Planning for Permanency

Julie Selwyn highlights the importance of recognising childrens positive relationships and ensuring that children are connected to adults who will offer a long-term commitment.