Background Child and youth care workers who take care of foster children with special educational needs frequently face significant challenges in navigating the educational system to secure appropriate academic support and advocate for children’s fundamental rights. Purpose This study explored the experiences of child and youth care workers’ advocacy for foster children with academic challenges in marginalised in-house facilities. Research Design A qualitative, single case study was used, and the study adopted a multi-layered lens of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and the Trauma-Informed Care Framework to examine how various environmental systems influence the educational experiences of Child and youth care workers and to understand how they tailor their advocacy to meet the emotional and psychological needs of children. Study Sample and Data Collection Data were collected via a focus group interview with six child and youth care workers. Data analysis: Thematic analysis identified four primary themes: (1) Collaborative Relationships with Schools, (2) Experiencing Role Expansion and Professional Strain, and (3) Systemic and Resource-Related Challenges. Results The findings underscore the pressing need for systemic reforms, including increased institutional transparency, caregiver education initiatives, and expanded access to support services. Conclusions The study emphasises the critical need for policies that promote an inclusive and equitable educational landscape, ultimately supporting the developmental needs of all children.
Exposure to parental gender-based violence (GBV) can include witnessing, hearing, or knowing violence is occurring within the home and/or being a direct subject of coercive control tactics; it is associated with adverse outcomes when compared to non-exposed peers. Despite this, many children display resilience, which may be influenced by both internal and external factors. The primary objective of this study was to explore the resilience and protective factors among a national Canadian sample of children previously exposed to parental GBV. A second exploratory objective of this work was to explore the relationship between protective factors and resilience among this sample. Data from 240 children aged 5 to 12 years who were previously exposed to parental GBV were included in this study. Grounded in Resiliency Theory, this cross-sectional study collected parent-report data via an online survey including standardized measures of GBV, resilience, children’s assets and their resources. Nearly all correlations between resilience and protective factors were significant, with the strongest being strengths and difficulties, external support, and family dynamics. Ultimately, both children’s internal and external protective factors were associated with their resilience. Supporting children following exposure to parental GBV therefore requires approaches that extend beyond the child to include efforts that strengthen family functioning, enhance access to supportive relationships and services, and address the broader structural conditions that influence children’s opportunities to thrive.
Trauma-informed residential care requires attention to how organizational commitments are translated into decisions, routines, and opportunities for children to influence care. This conceptual article introduces the SAFE Milieu Framework as a focused lens for examining those administrative connections. Developed independently through professional reflection and engagement with literature, policies, and practice notes, SAFE distinguishes Safety, Accountability, Fidelity support, and Engagement. It brings established trauma-informed, residential-care, implementation, and children’s-rights perspectives into an analysis of decision pathways across policies, individualized plans, staff guidance, records, and review processes. Its proposed contribution is to make cross-domain omissions and contradictions inspectable, rather than to replace existing models or claim that they neglect administration. Accountability includes organizational answerability to children and families; fidelity-supporting infrastructure is distinguished from fidelity as an implementation outcome; and participation is treated as a right. Developmental capacities, disability and communication access, placement stage, equity, resources, and regulatory context shape application across all four domains. Five propositions connect administrative arrangements with independently assessed practice or children’s experiences. A figure and two tables summarize the domains, interfaces, and possible empirical approaches. SAFE is offered for conceptual analysis, organizational reflection, and future investigation. Its initial formulation was not co-produced, and it has not been empirically tested or validated as an intervention or measurement instrument.
North Korean refugee mothers raise preschool children while navigating new cultural, socioeconomic, and service environments in South Korea. However, little is known about their children’s everyday moral and conventional behaviors. This cross-sectional study examined the associations of maternal and family characteristics, parenting beliefs and attitudes, and mother-child attachment with mother-reported moral and conventional behaviors among 122 North Korean refugee mothers. After accounting for other variables in the final hierarchical regression model, longer residence in South Korea, part-time employment (relative to full-time or self-employment), and single-parent or other family types (relative to nuclear families) were associated with higher scores. In contrast, older maternal age and stronger controlling-rejecting parenting attitudes were associated with lower scores. Attachment was also positively associated with the outcome in the final model; however, this finding warrants cautious, exploratory interpretation because no corresponding bivariate association was observed. Parenting beliefs and affectionate-autonomous parenting attitudes were not independently associated with the outcome. Overall, the findings situate mother-reported moral and conventional behaviors within the intersecting contexts of resettlement, family circumstances, and everyday caregiving. Although this cross-sectional study cannot identify causal pathways or specific intervention targets, the findings may inform culturally responsive, family-centered support that addresses children’s social development and families’ caregiving needs during resettlement. Longitudinal and multi-informant research is needed to establish the robustness of these associations and clarify their relevance for developmental child welfare practice.
Purpose Attachment theory and associated terms are drawn upon widely in clinical and social work practice with families. There is a notable gap in research exploring how the use of these concepts and terms influences care. Research Design This article describes a critical discourse analysis of child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) clinical notes exploring the use of attachment related discourses for a sample of 30 cases. The case notes typically documented intensive professional activity (meetings; correspondence; assessment; therapy) and cross service discussions about children who were at serious risk of harm due to social and psychological difficulties. Results We identified the following themes: 1) Lack of Assessment; 2) Conceptual Confusion; 3) Care Pathways; 4) Conversations with Children and Parents. Attachment related language was used for multiple reasons: an attempt by professionals to call for action from another service (e.g. change of placement), giving more power to professionals who might not otherwise have access to terminology that describes their concerns from a “clinical” perspective; offering an explanation for chronic issues resistant to the interventions offered by services; a means of locating the cause of problems within actors not currently involved in the child’s life; a shorthand way of describing complex presentations not easily described within a diagnostic framework. Conclusion The study identified concerns about how these terms are used in practice and the impact on care provided to children and families. We make recommendations for policy changes, further research, and for practitioners and academics to work collaboratively.
