Residential Child Care Workers Research Articles

Neuro Trauma Training: Feasibility and Acceptability of Online Training in Executive Function for Residential Childcare Workers

Background In residential childcare for youth who have been removed from the birth home as a result of childhood maltreatment, staff are working with after-effects of developmental trauma. Experiencing trauma and neglect at a young age is likely to lead to adaptive alterations in brain development, in part due to over- or under-activation of the body’s stress response. As a result, care-experienced children and youth with trauma backgrounds are likely to experience various neurodevelopmental difficulties, including executive function problems. There is a gap in training provision related to executive function in the context of neurodevelopmental trauma and its implications for current behavior, affect and cognition. Objective To conduct a feasibility and acceptability trial of an online training course for residential workers with care-experienced children, focusing on the impact of trauma on the development of executive function. The development of the training and an evaluation of its outcomes are described. Participants and setting Staff working in residential childcare across the UK were invited to participate in an online training and evaluation protocol. Methods Participants completed measures of perceived and actual knowledge before and after training. Completion rates, outcomes data and evaluation feedback was used to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the training, Results Of 318 initial registrants, 47.7% completed the training and post-training measures. Significant learning gains were found, along with (p < .001, d = 1.08) positive feedback from participants. Technological constraints were the most significant limitation. Conclusions An online neurodevelopmental trauma training is feasible and acceptable to residential childcare workers.

Residential childcare workers in child welfare and moral distress

• Moral distress is identified among residential childcare workers in child welfare. • Moral distress is a threat to worker and child well-being in residential settings. • Trauma-informed care is indicated to mitigate moral distress among workers. Residential childcare workers in child welfare (RCWs) can suffer negative impacts as a result of exposure to distressing experiences at work, such as violence and details of child abuse. These impacts undermine the well-being of RCWs and the children in their care. One dimension of the suffering RCWs can experience is psychological distress. An exploratory theoretical thematic analysis of the narratives of RCWs was performed to further understanding about the nature of the psychological distress reported by RCWs. This secondary analysis of ten semi-structured interviews identified a novel source of psychological distress unrelated to potentially traumatic experiences. This source of distress, described thematically as a “barriers to care,” was related to the nature of RCW work. This study introduces moral distress as a relevant concept towards explaining this theme and expanding understanding about the impacts of residential childcare work on RCWs. The implementation of system-wide trauma-informed care is proposed as preventive strategy and response to moral distress. Further research using validated measures to capture the impacts of implementing trauma-informed care on RCW psychological distress generally, and moral distress more specifically, is indicated.

Trauma-Informed Care in Child Welfare: An Imperative for Residential Childcare Workers

Context: Rates of traumatization among residential child welfare professionals are alarmingly high. The well-being of these professionals is associated both with their intention to stay in their jobs and outcomes of children in their care. Several risk factors threaten the well-being of child welfare professionals, including primary and secondary exposure to experiences with the potential to provoke posttraumatic stress reactions. Objectives: This manuscript details experiences empirically shown to have potential negative impacts on professional well-being, discusses why these impacts are of particular concern for residential childcare workers, and describes the types of organizational cultures and climates that appear to mitigate these negative impacts. Implications: Trauma-informed care at the organizational level is proposed both as a means to reduce harm to child-welfare professionals and promote the rehabilitation of children within the child welfare system.

The role of child-keyworker attachment in burnout among Saudi residential staff.

Research on the impact of the keyworker-child relationship on residential staff is scarce. This longitudinal study investigated the potential moderating effects of child and keyworker attachment styles on the link between child behavioural problems and staff burnout and the moderating effects of child attachment style on the link between keyworker attachment style and keyworker burnout. Participants included 261 children and 59 residential child care workers, from 5 orphanages in Saudi Arabia. Five self-report measures were utilised: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Security Scale, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire. Keyworkers caring for relatively non-avoidant children and those with an avoidant attachment style themselves experienced relatively high burnout a year later. Relatively high burnout was also reported by avoidant keyworkers who cared for avoidant and generally insecure children, while anxiously attached keyworkers reported relatively high burnout when they cared for children with any type of insecure attachment style. The present findings highlight essential interpersonal processes involved in the development of burnout in residential child care workers and call for the employment of attachment-focused interventions as measures of burnout prevention.

Staff support and adolescent adjustment difficulties: The moderating role of length of stay in the residential care setting

Residential child care workers, acting in loco parentis, are in continuous, daily contact with the children in their care, and as such they are one of the key support providers in their lives. However, there is little research on the extent of the support and contribution they make to the children’s well-being. This study examines the link between perceived staff social support and emotional and behavioral adjustment difficulties of adolescents in educational residential care settings (RCSs) designed for youth from underprivileged backgrounds in Israel. It also examines the moderating role of adolescents’ length of stay in the RCS in the link between staff support and adolescent adjustment. The study includes the reports of a random cluster sample of 1,409 adolescents in grades 8 to 12, residing in 16 Israeli educational RCSs. The adolescents reported an average of medium to high level of staff support. Being female, Israeli-born, and perceiving greater parental support were found to be positively correlated with perceived staff support. Staff support was associated negatively with adolescent adjustment difficulties, above and beyond the contribution of parents’ support. A significant interaction was found between length of stay and staff support in predicting adjustment difficulties. Specifically, among adolescents residing for longer periods in the RCS, there was a stronger link between staff support and fewer adjustment difficulties. The findings have implications for residential care policy and practice, especially regarding the need to strengthen the role of child care staff as a social support system for children and adolescents in residential care.

Moral Distress in Residential Child Care

ABSTRACTNeoliberalism has ushered in a rise in managerialism, technocracy and bureaucratisation in residential child care where economy, efficiency, and effectiveness have been prioritised over the moral imperative to care. One implication has been the commodification of children who are traded in a culture of procurement and commissioning compounded by a climate of austerity, and where moral regulation has been replaced by contractual regulation. The impact of this upon the care that children receive has raised concern. The impact upon frontline carers of intractable moral challenges which this climate presents in their role of caring each day is less well understood. The naming of an experience can provide an important starting place to understanding and challenging it. This article draws upon the phenomenon of ‘moral distress’, which is well documented in the medical field, and considers the transferability of this phenomenon from nursing to residential child care. It proposes that moral distress discourse may provide a language to residential child care workers through which their experience of the betrayal of the moral fabric of their work may be articulated.

One size does not fit all: A systematic review of training outcomes on residential youth care professionals' skills

Despite the importance of training residential youth care professionals to increase their professional competences, little attention has been paid so far to the influence of training on the behaviour and skills of residential professionals. This study aims to gain greater insight into the effects of training on the skills of these professionals.We conducted a systematic literature review using the PsycINFO, Eric, SocIndex and Academic Search Premier databases. Within the 12 studies retrieved, the outcomes of nine different training programme were examined. These nine training programmes include The Solution Strategy (TSS), (Professional) Skills for Residential Child Care Workers (PSRCCW/SRCCW), Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (for Youth Care Worker) (TCIYCW/TCI), Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT), a Brief Training Program (BTP), Social Skills Training (SST), Behavior Analysis Services Program (BASP), Mental Health Training (MHT) and a Brief Training Manual (BTM).Our results demonstrate that some training programmes may produce positive outcomes for professionals after a training course. TSS (in both studies), PSFCCW, SRCCW, TCI, CTRT, BTP, SST, BASP and BTM programmes are associated with positive outcomes regarding improvements in professional's individual characteristics or improvements in the work environment. However, two studies also found negative outcomes with regard to decreases in the perceived recognition of youth care workers' value to the agency and a decrease in the knowledge and skills that they learned through training after 6 months (TSS [Hickey, 1994] and PSRCCW). In addition, the most common ‘other’ outcome was a variable effect of training on the professionals' skills.Although we did find positive and negative training outcomes on the professionals' skills, none of the studies specified the training elements which caused these changes. More thorough empirical studies using an experimental or repeated case study design are needed to identify effective training elements which could further improve the effectiveness of interventions targeting youths in residential youth care.

Social pedagogy-informed residential child care

This paper discusses the nature of the professional expertise needed in residential child care (RCC) in light of recent debate on social pedagogy. Focusing on the question of what kind of expertise is introduced in this debate, the paper deals with the contribution of social pedagogy to the professional development and professional competences of the RCC field, as well as the characteristics of professional knowhow in particular. The paper discusses also the research on how RCC expertise is constructed among RCC workers and how they demonstrate their expertise to other professional groups. The final aim is to outline a social pedagogy-informed profile of professional RCC competences. The purpose is to stimulate and enable multidisciplinary reflections about different kinds of expertise and shared responsibilities, towards developing an integrated framework for RCCs. Moreover, the paper emphasises the relevance of social pedagogy as a subject for training to promote RCC professionalism.

Initial reflections and learning from the development and delivery of staff consultations in an innovative residential childcare pathway

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the development of staff consultation in the context of an innovative residential childcare pathway within a local authority in the United Kingdom. A preceding attempt to develop group consultations in residential homes has been expanded upon and enhanced as part of implementing a broader therapeutic residential service model. A wide-ranging training programme and consultations have been developed for residential childcare workers to introduce and embed therapeutic ideas. Systemic therapy and attachment theory ideas have been used explicitly through exploring with staff how these approaches can inform practice, and implicitly by providing a framework of consultation to inform and expand individual and team thinking. Promoting reflective practice through group consultations has highlighted complex challenges, stimulating opportunities as well as a need to consider multiple levels of context. Recommendations from this learning are discussed to help inform practice in new and existing residential services.

Residential child care workers: Relationship based practice in a culture of fear

AbstractIn a contemporary context dominated by reports of the historical institutional abuse of children and young people in residential children's homes, and where the voice of workers is largely absent, this study explores the views and experiences of 26 workers in the Republic of Ireland regarding relationship‐based practice. Using an exploratory, qualitative approach and informed by ‘appreciative inquiry’; semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with 26 residential care workers. The findings highlight that relationship‐based practice has not been fully understood and/or embraced in practice because of a culture of fear that has permeated the Irish residential childcare system. Using theoretical concepts associated with the sociology of fear, the paper explores their effects on practice and argues that these are amplified given the current low status of residential care workers, the impact of media reports and the influence of current discourses around professional practice in which ‘objective’ and ‘emotionally detached’ practice is viewed as synonymous with efficiency and effectiveness. The paper ends by considering implications for professional practice in residential childcare settings.

Attachment focused caregiving training in residential children’s homes: A pilot study

Staff in residential children’s homes care for young people presenting with complex emotional and relational needs. The Fostering Attachments with Children who are Looked After and Adopted training programme was delivered to residential childcare workers. Feedback from participants was extremely positive, especially in relation to staff confidence and understanding.

Keyworking in residential child care: Lessons from research

Developing quality relationships is recognised as an active ingredient for effective interventions with young people in care. Essentially, care staff has the opportunity and capacity to positively influence the young person's experiences in care, through the positive relationships they form. This paper presents selectively on the findings of two separate but related qualitative Irish studies exploring relationship-based approaches in residential child care practice, from the perspectives of both residential child care workers and young care leavers. Thirty-two professionals and four care leavers participated in either focus group or individual interviews. The findings are integrated in this paper with the wider literature on young people leaving care, with the aim of identifying core knowledge that is needed by service providers who are tasked with the support of young people making the transition out of care and towards independent living. In this paper we attempt to identify the knowledge base on relationship-building which is needed by care staff in order to carry out their role. It is argued that an explicit knowledge base is overdue now that the complex needs of young people in care are increasingly visible through advances in research and more recently the emerging literature concerning the personal testimonies of care graduates.

‘We're Like One, Big, Dysfunctional Family’: Struggling to Define the Role of Residential Child Care Workers

Understanding the complexities of working in residential child care is a difficult, and somewhat daunting, task. Research has highlighted that staff members perform a number of duties in the day-to-day lives of young people (Connelly and Milligan, 2012). Alongside these duties, staff members also have a ‘professional’ responsibility and identity in the residential unit (Smith, 2009). As a result, being both an ‘employee'and ‘parental figure’ can be a difficult role to comprehend. In the project discussed here, 13 residential child care workers were interviewed and asked to discuss their views on ‘parenting’ the young people in their care. The study found that whilst some staff members identified as a substitute or surrogate ‘parent’ to the young people, others were clear that they could not replace biological parents. Nevertheless, all staff members highlighted that their role was increasingly complex and difficult to define. Further research in this area is necessary in order to understand the impact of these findings on the residential care sector. What is increasingly clear, however, is that the role of residential child care workers is a complex and every-changing one that cannot be easily understood.

‘We're like one, big, dysfunctional family’: struggling to define the role of residential child care workers#

‘We're like one, big, dysfunctional family’: struggling to define the role of residential child care workers^#

Aiming higher: more than “on the job” training for residential child care workers

Purpose– Children who enter the care system in England and Wales are among some of the most vulnerable children in society, often presenting with high levels of need. Ensuring that the children's workforce has the skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of caring for this group of children has been at the forefront of policy agendas over the past two decades. This paper aims to report on an educational initiative to develop the capacity of residential childcare staff to work therapeutically with children.Design/methodology/approach– The paper describes the origins and nature of the Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Childcare and documents the reflections of tutors responsible for delivering the programme on their experiences. Comments from a small student sample are included to highlight the student perspective in studying for the Foundation Degree.Findings– The paper concludes that while some barriers exist in delivering the Foundation Degree to residential child care workers, programmes designed to develop knowledge and understanding of working therapeutically with children should be promoted.Originality/value– The paper highlights some of the issues and challenges associated with educating the children's workforce and reports back on one of the first Foundation Degrees in the UK focusing on residential and foster care workers.

Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction Among Residential Child Care Workers: The Role of Personality Resources

This study assessed compassion fatigue (CF) and compassion satisfaction (CS) among Israeli residential child-care workers (RCWs) working in residential treatment facilities for children and youth at risk (N = 147) as compared to educational boarding schools workers (BSWs; N = 74). Furthermore, we assessed the relationship of potential personality-related buffers of attachment orientations, spirituality, and sense of coherence to CF and CS among these workers via self-report measures. Results show significant differences between RCWs and BSWs in CS but no significant differences in CF. Importantly, differential patterns of variables were found to predict the CF dimensions and CS. These findings suggest that both RCWs and BCWs are at risk for CF. In order to improve the resilience and reduce the turnover of RCWs and BSWs in their work, personality resources should be taken into account in the process of recruitment and training.

Shift Recording in Residential Child Care

Recording is a task often perceived by residential child care workers as boring or taking time away from the ‘real work’, direct engagement with young people. It is required by legislation and policy but has been undertheorized and treated as a technical/rational task. In this essay, Foucauldian and feminist perspectives are applied to shift recording, a routine aspect of residential practice, in order to problematize the positivist approach assumed in legislation and policy. The analysis suggests that this approach represses emotional aspects of care and subjugates particular forms of knowledge, such as young people’s experiences. Recording inevitably involves ethical choices and treating it as technical/rational task obscures its ethical implications. This essay concludes that greater attention needs to be given to the ethical aspects of shift recording in order to challenge practice that oppresses young people by failing to recognize their individuality and silencing their voices.

How Nurture Protects Children: Nurture and Narrative in Work with Children, Young People and Families

How Nurture Protects Children: Nurture and Narrative in Work with Children, Young People and Families

Residential Childcare Workers' Knowledge of Reactive Attachment Disorder.

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is associated with a history of 'pathogenic care' therefore residential childcare workers are likely to come into contact with children with this disorder. An 'appropriately supportive environment' may be a mitigating factor in terms of the disorder's severity and duration (Corbin, 2007); therefore it is important that behaviours suggestive of RAD are recognised early and that these children are given the attention they require in the care setting. We aimed to gain an understanding of residential childcare workers' knowledge of RAD to determine if their understanding of RAD was sufficient to recognise RAD-like behaviour. A mixed methods study (qualitative focus groups and whole population survey) was undertaken with residential childcare workers. Liaison with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services was seen by residential workers as being useful and workers thought their knowledge of mental health problems had improved in recent years. However, less than half of respondents (49.1%) identified RAD from a case history given in the questionnaire. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services staff and residential workers may need more specialised training on RAD to be able to recognise behaviours suggestive of the disorder and refer appropriately, ensuring the child's needs are met as early as possible.

Residential care for children and young people: priority areas for change

AbstractAbuse in residential childcare has been of concern to the public and the profession for a number of years. This article highlights a Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care's (SIRCC) response to the Scottish Government which was requested following allegations of abuse in Glasgow City Council's Kerelaw residential school and secure unit. It offers priority actions to address the challenges of residential childcare and ensure the safety of children and young people as far as is practicably possible. It contextualises the residential childcare task, and explores four interrelated areas in which change is strongly recommended: (1) organisations' cultures; (2) workforce challenges including the status of the sector, staff selection standards, the role of residential childcare workers in relation to their level of autonomy and their education levels; (3) abuse allegations, in particular the sector's growing fearfulness of false allegations, support for practitioners' anonymity when accused of abuse and a reconsideration of criminal record certificate information; and (4) service delivery related to behaviour management and advocacy support. The intersection between the SIRCC and the subsequent Kerelaw Inquiry reports is outlined. Finally, it concludes with a scan of the immediate strategic policy horizon which indicates an unprecedented momentum for change. While based in the Scottish context, it reflects lessons which are applicable internationally. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.