Child Care Workers Research Articles

COVID-19 seroprevalence among local authority workers from Orléans Métropole, the Community of Communes of the Terres du Val de Loire, the local public service management centre of the Loiret department and the Region Centre Val de Loire: a prospective epidemiological study

ObjectiveTo evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among local authority workers, depending on their position and potential interaction with the public.MethodsA cohort of volunteer participants was recruited among local authority workers of...

Early childhood teacher workplace stress and classroom practices

ABSTRACTTeaching is a stressful profession given teachers’ competing demands. Due to COVID-19, teachers struggle to balance maintaining a safe classroom environment and the traditional child-directed focus of early education. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an adaptation of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) on reducing teachers’ stress and examine associations between teacher stress and classroom practices. Measures were collected at baseline (T1) and 6-months post-intervention (T2) using the Childcare Worker Job Stress Inventory, an observational measure of classroom practices (Health Environment Rating Scale), and teacher-child interaction quality (Classroom Assessment Scoring System). Regression analyses revealed that teacher-reported Job Resources were associated with higher Classroom Organization at T2. Findings suggested that providing mental health consultation may be an important first step in improving quality classroom practices, particularly those practices that support children’s social-emotional and behavioral development.

Vulnerability and Agency in the Time of COVID-19: The Narratives of Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa

In this paper, we use data generated through one-on-one interviews with 12 purposively sampled Child and Youth Care Workers to examine their narratives of work and life-related vulnerabilities and agency during the peak of the COVID-19 global pandemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Our findings show that Child and Youth Care Workers were vulnerable to poor mental health. Indeed, working and socialising during the height of COVID-19 posed a mental toll on the Child and Youth Care Workers in this study, who experienced fear, uncertainty, anxiety and stress. Moreover, these workers faced challenges with working under the so-called new normal, which was instituted as part of a non-pharmaceutical response to slow and curb the spread of COVID-19. Finally, our findings show that Child and Youth Care Workers actively identified and applied specific emotionally-focused and physically-focused coping mechanisms to deal with the burden brought on by the pandemic. The study has implications for CYCWs working during crisis periods.

Reflections on children and law: Special Edition in honour of Emeritus Professor Trynie Boezaart

Professor Trynie Boezaart imagined a law faculty and a law profession -in fact, a legal system - that recognised child law as a separate field of law. She did not just leave that in the realm of imagination - she rolled up her sleeves and got to work on making it happen. In 1998 she established the Centre for Child Law in the Department of Private Law at the University of Pretoria. As an established researcher and author in family law, the law of delict and the law of persons, the Department of Private Law was her home. She knew very well, however, that child law was broader than that. It spanned many aspects of law - constitutional law, public law, and even, somewhat surprisingly, mercantile law. The very first case that the Centre for Child Law took on in 2004 was in fact a labour law matter which carved out a special exemption for child and youth care work, by defining this work as part of essential services, in order to ensure children would not be left without carers due to a workers' strike. In the year that case was taken, the first author of this foreword, Ann Skelton, joined the Centre for Child Law. She was the Centre's Strategic Litigation Director from 2004 to 2014. Ann took over as Director when Trynie moved to become the Head of Department of Private Law. In the meanwhile, Karabo Ozah, the second author of this foreword, joined the Centre as an attorney, and in January 2019, she became the Director of the Centre for Child Law.

Indian Time: Temporality, Gender, Mobility

Indian Time: Temporality, Gender, Mobility

Alternative care takers for children of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in Kashmir valley: a cross sectional study

Background: COVID-19 pandemic forced health care workers to seek alternatives of child care due to strong standard operating procedures (SOPs). Informal child care workers include patrilineal, matrilineal, immediate family members, neighbours, friends and housemaids. The present study tried to explore and highlight the role of Informal child care workers in alternative spaces. Methods: The present study aimed to reveal new facts about COVD-19 pandemic, its implications in relation to the alternative child care spaces available to the children of health workers in the valley of Kashmir. Total sample size constituted 100 respondents including doctors, Para medicals and other supportive staff chosen through snowball sampling technique. For data collection, a structured questionnaire was constructed and sent to respondents through different social media platforms like Facebook, e-mail ids and WhatsApp. Results: In the study majority of dual career families especially health workers working as frontline COVID warriors in the valley of Kashmir reported that their children were taken care either by alternative care takers mostly patrilocal or matrilocal family members. Conclusions: The study reveals that dual career families of Kashmir prefer largely female members as alternative care takers as compared to male members. The immediate family members are the most preferable choice of Alternative care followed by housemaids.

CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY CHILD AND YOUTH CARE WORKERS IN CHILD AND YOUTH CARE CENTRES WORKING WITH CHILDREN

This article explores the challenges of child and youth care workers (CYCWs) working with children. Children and young people exhibiting attachment and behavioural difficulties present a significant challenge for parents, child and youth care workers, and society. This article reports on qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 CYCWs and the data were subjected to thematical analysis. The findings indicate that CYCWs involved in child welfare experience not only a lack of recognition but also conflict, overwork and other negative job characteristics that affect their caring responsibilities, given the complexity and demanding roles of working with children. The study addresses issues not discussed in the literature that affect CYCWs, including organisational and profession-related challenges. A lack of detailed information sharing with other human service professionals threatens the viability and sustainability of the professional care service and remains a challenge. Keywords: child and youth care workers, child and youth care centres, children, South Africa

Exploring the Challenges and Resilience of Child and Youth Care Workers Employed in a Child and Youth Care Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Child and youth care work is a stressful profession that results in workforce concerns about poor levels of staff retention and high levels of inexperience. The aim of this study is to gain insight into child and youth care workers’ resilience by examining the challenges faced by these workers and establish the methods used to overcome these challenges. This study employed a qualitative research method and data was collected from a child and youth care centre in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, employing a purposive sampling technique using 9 workers. Seven themes emerged from this study and it was evident that the respondents shared a common understanding of resilience. It was also found that an individual’s grassroots had an impact on developing a passion to work with young people as well as coping with work challenges. Positive protective factors that emerged were support systems in the organisation as motivators as well as maintaining a balance between work and personal life, while negative factors were low salaries and poor working conditions. The study concluded by recommending organisational interventions to support resilience in child and youth care workers and maintain expertise in child and youth care work.

The COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin American and Caribbean countries: Gender Differentials in Labor Market Dynamics

Abstract We study gender differences in changes in labor market dynamics before the pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic in four Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries: Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Specifically, we look at differences in labor market states and at differences in the transitions of workers across labor market states. To identify the pandemic's impact, we compare labor market stocks and labor market flows for a number of balanced panels of workers during the pandemic and before the pandemic. We find that the pandemic has negatively affected employment and labor market participation of both men and women, but that the effect is significantly stronger for women, magnifying the already large gender gaps observed in LAC countries. The main channel generating this stronger impact is the increase in child care work performed by women with school-age children.

Practical Examples of Micro-teaching in Veteran Childcare Workers’ Training

Practical Examples of Micro-teaching in Veteran Childcare Workers’ Training

Promoting child's growth and development in childcare centers

Introduction: Childcare centers are a type of daycare that is increasingly used by families all over the world. Indonesia is experiencing a similar trend. Childcare centers have essential roles in supporting child's growth and development in the center. This study aims to explore how childcare centers support the healthy growth and development of young children. Methods: A qualitative research approach using a case study design was used for exploring the perspectives of two childcare managers and eight teachers in two public and two private childcare centers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews of one hour each, audiotaped recorded with the participants' consent, were used to collect the data. Content analysis was used to generate findings from the data. Findings from the public and private centers were compared and contrasted to generate the study's overall findings.Results: The findings identified that childcare centers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, actively promote child growth and development by providing high-quality environments and services. The environment is safe, homelike, has high standards of cleanliness and sanitation, and provides appropriate toys and equipment. Services include nutrition, supervision, and health checks. Linking centers to the community was an essential strategy for improving the funds and resources needed to promote child growth and development. Conclusion: This study suggests that providing training for childcare workers, refining the curriculum, and developing stimulating activities for children in the center are needed.

Masking in early child care and COVID-19 infection

Masking, a common SARS-CoV-2 risk mitigation strategy, is controversial for children in educational settings such as childcare. A prospective survey of early childcare workers demonstrated that child masking was associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 program closure, highlighting potential benefits of child masking in keeping childcare open, parents employed, and children learning.

An Exploration of the Educational Preparedness for Practice Experiences of Child and Youth Care Workers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The number of young people admitted to child and youth care centres is constantly increasing in South Africa. These are young people who might have experienced extreme trauma related to abuse, neglect, abandonment, family dysfunction, loss of a parent or caregiver, or those with behavioural challenges and therefore in need of residential care. Child and youth care workers are trained to assist and care for them. The provision of this care presupposes key tasks with behaviour management being one of them. In this study, we explored the adequacy and efficacy of training offered to child and youth care workers and their preparedness to successfully cope with their behaviour management tasks. It focused on the educational preparation of child and youth care workers to assist young people with behaviour management challenges in child and youth care centres. A qualitative approach with an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design was used in this study. The population comprised child and youth care workers in KwaZulu-Natal who are working in residential child and youth care centres, and the sample size was suspended at 21 participants because of data saturation. A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct individual telephonic interviews to collect data. The data collected were analysed using Tesch’s eight steps of analysis. In this study, we found that the main gap was in integrating and applying theory and practice resulting in difficulties to manage tasks relating to young people’s challenging behaviours.

Klimat i system organizacji żłobka a poczucie własnej skuteczności opiekunów dzieci do lat trzech

Research about self-efficacy of caregivers of children up to 3 years of age and the climate and organization system of the facility were carried out in all public nurseries in Warsaw. Two hundred twenty four childcare worker in nurseries participated in the study. The study showed that the climate correlated with the influence of the childcare worker’s self-efficacy, while no such relationship with age, work experience or education was observed. Self-efficacy was seen as connected with the atmosphere created in the nursery and positively correlated with it. This relationship was not found in relation to age, experience, or education.

Management of operational activities at the Regional Human Milk Collection Center: an analysis from the perspective of local intervention strategies and information systems

The purpose of the creation of the Human Milk Donation Network is to function as a device for knowledge and interaction between actors at different provincial, regional and municipal levels, to revalue and empower the figure of the community promoter, administrative and childcare worker as part of the health team, each in his/her role, raising awareness among the population of the importance of milk donation, strengthening promotion and increasing the number of donors, jointly elaborating (central, regional and municipal teams) local intervention strategies and establishing and integrating the information system. The objective of this paper was to describe the experience on the implementation of the Human Milk Collection Center that contributes to increase the volume of human milk for pasteurization in the human milk bank, in the HZGA Prof. Dr. Ramon Carrillo of Ciudadela in the month January to March 2022. Between the two hospital institutions, the Human Milk Bank of the HZGA San Martin de La Plata and the Breastfeeding Center of the HZGA Prof. Dr. Ramon Carrillo de Ciudadela, an effective chain of support for breastfeeding has been activated, through the Health Service Network modality, with the objective of contributing to the increase of pasteurized human milk. With this purpose, safe strategies have been promoted, which promote donation and increase the number of human milk donors, a coordinated work has been propitiated that guarantees equity of access to human milk and equal opportunities for premature or critical newborns who require pasteurized milk, when there is not enough milk from the mother's own milk, donated milk is the best alternative.

Altruistic Vaccination: Insights from Two Focus Group Studies.

Vaccination can protect vaccinated individuals and often also prevent them from spreading disease to other people. This opens up the possibility of getting vaccinated for the sake of others. In fact, altruistic vaccination has recently been conceptualized as a kind of vaccination that is undertaken primary for the benefit of others. In order to better understand the potential role of altruistic motives in people's vaccination decisions, we conducted two focus group studies with a total of 37 participants. Study 1 included three focus groups on the subject of HPV vaccination for boys. Study 2 included three focus groups on the subject of pertussis and measles vaccination for childcare workers. We found substantial evidence of other-regarding motives across all focus groups, which suggests that altruistic motives could be an important factor when it comes to people's vaccination decisions. We address the significance of these findings for vaccination policy surrounding HPV vaccination for boys and vaccination for childcare workers. We also extend the findings to normative work on vaccination for the sake of others more generally.

Gender Essentialism at Work? The Case of Norwegian Childcare Workers

Abstract We examine the influence of gender essentialism, a key explanation of gender segregation in the labor market, by zooming in on childcare work, which remains a female-dominated occupation. Building on the assumption that gender essentialism is expressed through people’s perceptions of what jobs and tasks are suitable for men and women, we ask the following question: are childcare workers gender essentialists? We answer this question by investigating the attitudes and work-task participation of 2,549 Norwegian childcare workers. The results show that the workers did not display gender-essentialist attitudes. Male and female workers reported significantly different levels of participation in some work tasks, but the main conclusion is that gender is not an organizing principle of work-task participation. These results contradict findings from previous studies and contribute to ongoing debates about the causes of segregation because attitudes and behaviors are often evoked as explanations for the status quo.

The Play Workforce in Wales – An Exploratory Demographic Study

An online survey of 211 playworkers, 90 childcare and early years workers, and 90 ‘other play’ professionals provided demographic data from 391 people involved in the play workforce in Wales. This was the first extensive survey of the Welsh play workforce since 2008 and was part of a larger Welsh play workforce study. Results of the study found the play workforce in Wales is predominately white, female with no disabilities. Differences within the play workforce exist in relation to the average age where playworkers are younger compared to childcare/early years workers and ‘other play’ professionals. There is a significant difference between the average years employed, hourly rate for both full-time and part-time employment, and types of play-related qualifications when comparing playworkers with childcare/early years workers and ‘other play’ professionals. The results from the study can contribute to both the statutory Play Sufficiency Assessment each of the 22 local authorities has to undertake as well as the current play review. The study could be replicated in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Progress of the social service professions in South Africa's developmental social welfare system: Social work, and child and youth care work

AbstractThis paper examines the progress of the social service professions delivering developmental social welfare in South Africa, a subject we have followed closely over the last 20 years. Being policy‐driven, developmental social welfare stemmed from expert social analyses that resulted in technically oriented solutions, including the broadening of social service professions. Twenty years on, it is hard to see developmental social welfare, as envisaged in government policy, in action, since the practice reality does not differ drastically from the prior apartheid system with the government's heavy reliance on social security as a poverty‐alleviation measure. The expanded social security budget has led to underfunded services and a crisis for social service professionals. This paper focuses on the regulated professions of social workers, and child and youth care workers. Our examination of critical issues for these occupational groups revealed that South Africa still has a long way to go in building a strong social service workforce.

Acceptance of Different Self-sampling Methods for Semiweekly SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Asymptomatic Children and Childcare Workers at German Day Care Centers

Closure of day care centers (DCCs) to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with negative effects on children's health and well-being. To investigate the acceptance of self-sampling methods for continuous SARS-CoV-2 surveillance among asymptomatic children and childcare workers (CCWs) in DCCs. This nonrandomized pilot study included children and CCWs at 9 DCCs in Wuerzburg, Germany, from May to July 2021. Twice weekly testing for SARS-CoV-2 was conducted by self-sampled mouth-rinsing fluid (saliva sampling [SAL], with subsequent pooled polymerase chain reaction test) plus nasal rapid antigen self-test (RAgT) (group 1), SAL only (group 2), or RAgT only (group 3) in children and CCWs. Main outcomes were rates for initial acceptance and successful (≥60% of scheduled samples) long-term participation. The probability of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into DCCs was modeled as a function of age-adjusted background incidence and DCC size. Of 836 eligible children, 452 (54.1%; 95% CI, 50.7%-57.4%) participated (median [IQR] age: 4 [3-5] years; 213 [47.1%] girls), including 215 (47.6%) in group 1, 172 (38.1%) in group 2, and 65 (14.4%) in group 3. Of 190 CCWs, 139 (73.2%; 95% CI, 66.4%-79.0%) participated (median [IQR] age: 30 [25-46] years; 128 [92.1%] women), including 96 (69.1%) in group 1, 29 (20.9%) in group 2, and 14 (10.1%) in group 3. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests on 5306 SAL samples and 2896 RAgTs were performed in children, with 1 asymptomatic child detected by PCR from SAL. Successful long-term participation was highest in group 2 (SAL only; children: 111 of 172 [64.5%]; CCWs: 18 of 29 [62.1%]). Weekly participation rates in children ranged from 54.0% to 83.8% for SAL and from 44.6% to 61.4% for RAgT. Participation rates decreased during the study course (P < .001). The probability of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into a DCC with 50 children was estimated to reach at most 5% for an age-adjusted SARS-CoV-2 incidence below 143. Self-sampling for continuous SARS-CoV-2 testing was well accepted, with SAL being the preferred method. Given the high number of negative tests, thresholds for initiating continuous testing should be established based on age-adjusted SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates. German Registry for Clinical Trials Identifier: DRKS00025546.