SOCIO-EDUCATIVE KEY ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FAMILY PARTICIPATION IN FOSTER CARE PROCESSES

Authors

  • M. Ángels Balsells Bailon Universidad de Lleida http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3283-8222
  • Aida Urrea Monclús Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
  • Carmen Ponce Alifonso Universidad Rovira i Virgili
  • Eduard Vaquero Tió Universidad de Lleida
  • Alicia Navajas Hurtado Universidad de Lleida

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.21501

Keywords:

Family education, parent participation, child protection, child placement, intervention, content analysis.

Abstract

The positive parenting perspective is contributing towards changing the
intervention model with families involved in the child welfare system. From
this perspective, the participation of the biological family is seen as a key
factor which facilitates the returning home of children, promotes parent
involvement and helps to create awareness about the real reasons for the
family separation. This research shows the results of a study carried out in
Spain, the aim of which was to analyze the participation of the family at
the beginning of the separation, a crucial moment for the intervention. To
achieve this goal, a qualitative study was carried out using an exploratory
design with focus groups and semi-structured interviews of 135 participants:63 professionals who worked in child welfare, 30 fostered children and adolescents and 42 fathers and mothers who were the parents of these children and adolescents. The results of the study consider some areas related to the information that families received in depth, as well as their involvement and participation in the fostering process. Some findings may be highlighted include the lack of information provided about the legal aspects of fostering, the lack of knowledge related to the characteristics of foster placement and the few opportunities for parents to be involved in decision making. In this regard, the article proposes different socio-educative key actions to improve professional practices and to reinforce the involvement of parents.

Downloads

Author Biography

M. Ángels Balsells Bailon, Universidad de Lleida

Catedratica de Universidad 

Pedagogia

References

Amorós, P., Aparicio, P., de la Infanta, L., García, C., González, I., Hinojal, R., … Rodríguez, A. (1996). Guia d’intervenció amb la família del nen en el Programa de separació provisional i reunificació a través de l’acolliment familiar. Educació Social. Revista d’Intervenció Socioeducativa, 4, 120-134.

Amorós, P., Palaciós, J., Fuentes-Peláez, N., León, E., y Mesas, A. (2003). Famílies Cangur. Una experiència de protecció a la infància. Barcelona: Fundació ‘la Caixa’.

Arad-Davidson, B., & Benbenishty, R. (2008). The role of workers’ attitudes and parent and child wishes in child protection workers’ assessments and recommendation regarding removal and reunification. Children and Youth Services Review, 30, 107-121.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.07.003

Balsells, M.A., Pastor, C., Amorós, P., Fuentes-Peláez, N., Molina, M. C., Mateos, A., Vaquero, E., Ponce, C., et al., Balsells, M. À., Pastor, C., Amorós, P., Fuentes-Peláez, N., Molina, M.

C., … Vázquez, N. (2015). Caminar en familia: programa de competencias parentales durante el acogimiento y la reunificación familiar. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad. Centro de Publicaciones.

Balsells, M. À. (2013). El centre és el nen, el focus és la família: treballant les competències parentals. Butlletí d’Inf@ncia, 73, 1-10.

Balsells, M. À., Pastor, C., Amorós, P., Mateos, A., Ponce, C., & Navajas, A. (2014). Child Welfare and Successful Reunification through the Socio-Educative Process: Training Needs among Biological Families in Spain. Social Sciences, 3, 809-826. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci3040809

Balsells, M. À., Pastor, C., Molina, M. C., Fuentes-Peláez, N., Vaquero, E., & Mundet, A. (2013). Child Welfare and Successful Reunification: Understanding of the Family Difficulties during the Socio-Educative Process. Revista de Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 42, 809-826.

https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci3040809

Baumann, D.J., Fluke, J., & Casillas, K. (2012). Understanding Decision-Making. In 18th National Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect, April 16-20. Washington, DC.

Benbenishty, R., Davindson-Arad, B., López, M., Devaney, J., Spratt, T., Koopmans, C., … Hayes, D. (2015). Decision Making in Child Protection: An International Comparative Study on Maltreatment Substantiation, Risk Assessment and Interventions Recommendations, and the Role of Professionals’ Child Welfare Attitudes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 49, 1-37.

Bravo, A., y Del Valle, J.F. (Coord. .(2009). Intervención socioeducativa en acogimiento residencial. Santander: Gobierno de Cantabria. Consejería de empleo y bienestar social. Dirección General de Políticas Sociales.

Burford, G., & Hudson, J. (2002). Family Group Conferencing: New Directions in Community-centered Child and Family Practice. In Child and Family Social Work (Vol. 7, pp. 144-145). New York: Aldine de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2206.2002.t01-3-00236.x

Consejo de Europa (2006). Recomendación Rec 19 del Comité de Ministros a los Estados Miembros sobre políticas de apoyo a la parentalidad positiva. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/ognx1K

Domínguez, J., & Mohedano, R. (2014). El acogimiento de menores en el actual sistema de protección a la infancia: La importancia del contexto. Azarbe. Revista Internacional de Trabajo Social Y Bienestar, 3, 149-155.

Ellingsen, I.T., Shemmings, D., Størksen, I., & Storksen, I. (2011). The Concept of ‘Family’ Among Norwegian Adolescents in Long-Term Foster Care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 28(4), 301-318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0234-0

Farmer, E., & Wijedasa, D. (2013). The Reunification of Looked After Children with Their Parents: What Contributes to Return Stability? British Journal of Social Work, 43, 1611-1629.

https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs066

Fuentes-Peláez, N., Balsells, M.À., Fernández, J., Vaquero, E., & Amorós, P. (2014). The social support in kinship foster care: a way to enhance resilience. Child & Family Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12182

Fuller, T.L., Paceley, M.S., & Schreiber, J.C. (2014). Differential Response family assessments: Listening to what parents say about service helpfulness. Child Abuse & Neglect.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.05.010

Lee, B.R., Hwang, J., Socha, K., Pau, T., & Shaw, T.V. (2012). Going Home Again: Transitioning youth to families after group care placement. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(4), 447-459.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9596-y

Lietz, C.A., & Strength, M. (2011). Stories of Successful Reunification: A Narrative Study of Family Resilience in Child Welfare. Families in Society, 92(2), 203-210. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.4102

Merkel-Holguin, L., & Wilmot, L. (2005). Analyzing family involvement approaches. In J. Pennell & G. Anderson (Eds.), Widening the circle: The practice and evaluation of family group conferencing with children, young persons, and their families.

Washington, D.C: NASW Press. Montserrat, C., y Melendro, M. (2017). ¿Qué habilidades y competencias se valoran de los profesionales que trabajan con adolescencia en riesgo de exclusión social? Análisis desde la acción socioeducativa. Educación XX1, 20(2), 113-135.

Palmer, S., Maiter, S., & Manji, S. (2006). Effective intervention in child protective services: Learning from parents. Children and Youth Services Review, 28(7), 812-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2005.08.010

Rodrigo, M.J., Amorós, P., Arranz, E., Hidalgo, M.V., Máiquez, M. L., Martín, J.C., … Ochaita, E. (2015). Guía de buenas prácticas en parentalidad positiva. Un recurso para apoyar la práctica profesional con familias. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad y FEMP.

Rodrigo, M.J., Máiquez, M.L., y Martín-Quintana, J.C. (2010a). La educación parental como recurso psicoeducativo para promover la parentalidad positiva. Madrid: Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias.

Rodrigo, M.J., Máiquez, M.L., y Martín-Quintana, J. C. (2010b). Parentalidad positiva y políticas locales de apoyo a las familias. Orientaciones para favorecer el ejercicio de las responsabilidades parentales desde las corporaciones locales. Madrid: Ministerio de Sanidad y Política Social.

Rodrigo, M.J., Máiquez, M.L., y Martín, J.C. (2011). Buenas prácticas profesionales para el apoyo de la parentalidad positiva. Madrid: S.S. e I. Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias y Ministerio de Sanidad, Ed.

Schofield, G., Beek, M., Ward, E., & Sellick, C. (2011). Care planning for permanence in foster care. Norwich: University of East Anglia.

Schofield, G., & Ward, E. (2011). Understanding and Working with Parents of Children in Long-Term Foster Care. Jessica Kingsley Publisher. JKP.

Smithson, R., & Gibson, M. (2016). Less than human: a qualitative study into the experience of parents involved in the child protection system. Child & Family Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12270

Thomas, M., Chenot, D., & Reifel, B. (2005). A resilience-based model of reunification and reentry: implications for out-of-home care services. Families in Society, 86(2), 235-243.

Published

2018-11-13

How to Cite

Balsells Bailon, M. Ángels, Urrea Monclús, A., Ponce Alifonso, C., Vaquero Tió, E., & Navajas Hurtado, A. (2018). SOCIO-EDUCATIVE KEY ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FAMILY PARTICIPATION IN FOSTER CARE PROCESSES. Educación XX1, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.21501

Issue

Section

Estudios

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.