Disabled foster children and contacts with their birth families.
Adoption & Fostering › Vol. 30 Nbr. 2, June 2006
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Disabled foster children and contacts with their birth families.
Researchers from the University of York have been working with seven local authorities in England on a major programme of foster care research (Sinclair et al, 2004, 2005a, 2005b). Part of this work included a three-year longitudinal study of 596 foster children. Claire Baker used data from this study to look specifically at the experiences of disabled foster children and here discusses findings in relation to their contact with birth families. Earlier studies of disabled children who are looked after suggest that their need for family contact is at least as great as that of others, but that a combination of practical difficulties and professional attitudes may lead to a lower level of contact. This article shows that disabled foster children do, on average, have lower levels of contact than their non-disabled peers. It then uses qualitative data to consider possible reasons for this along with the implications for good practice.
Key words: long-term foster care, contact with birth family, disabled children ********** Like all looked after children, those who are disabled demand and deserve good practice. The maintenance and promotion of contact between foster children and birth family members is now seen as central to this. This article uses statistical data to compare the experiences of disabled foster children with their non-disabled peers. It also uses qualitative comments from questionnaires and case studies to look at disabled foster children's experiences of contact with their birth families. Overall, the aim is to examine the nature of disabled children's contacts with their families and investigate how far these children miss out on what is commonly accepted as good practice. The study This article is based on a sample of 596 foster children. All were in foster care in 1998, and they were studied then and at two further points (1999 and 2001). The children constitute a cross-sectional sample. They a...See the full content of this document
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