Safe and Sound: Exploring the safety of young people in residential care

Moore, Tim; McArthur, Morag; Roche, Steven; Death, Jodi; Tilbury, Clare

doi:10.24268/fhs.8140

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…It is also noteworthy that the experience of peer victimization, loss of normality and lack of preparation for placement transitions are similar to what young people reported in general residential care (Anglin, 2002; Moore et al, 2016). On the basis of these findings, it appears that young people's experiences in therapeutic residential care are not yet readily differentiated from those in general residential care.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…Irrespective of the intentions of peers, many young people in this study reported feeling distressed, vigilant and threatened by their peers' intimidating behaviour. Previous research has found that young people's vulnerability to peer victimization is heightened when they are placed with others who have entrenched behavioural and emotional difficulties (Moore et al, 2016). The current study adds weight to the call for more careful assessment when matching young people in therapeutic residential care, ensuring that the ‘do no harm’ priority in therapeutic residential care is safeguarded (Whittaker et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Young people in residential care concurred with this observation. They reported feeling excluded, disempowered and misperceived (Moore, McArthur, Roche, Death, & Tilbury, 2016). Anglin (2002) has also observed that residential care practitioners ‘seldom acknowledge and respond sensitively to the inner world of the child’ (p. 108).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's lived experiences of therapeutic residential care

Kor

Fernández

Spangaro

2020

Child & Family Social Work

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Concerns of maltreatment and poor outcomes persist in residential care despite numerous government inquiries and recommendations. Young people in residential care continue to be the most vulnerable and marginalized group in the out-of-home care population. Young people's voices are also underrepresented in research. Existing studies predominantly focus on service evaluations in which individual voices of young people are overshadowed by adults' perspectives. Other studies examine the perspectives of young people in out-of-home care as a homogenous population, limiting understandings of the subjective experiences of young people in residential care. This study focused exclusively on young people's lived experiences in Australian therapeutic residential care, utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis. The young people in this study revealed experiences of peer victimization, ambiguous loss and uncertainty during transitions. These findings suggest that more work is required in order to provide safe and healing environments and experiences for young people in therapeutic residential care. Each individual voice captured in this study offers valuable insights into how residential care practitioners can strengthen practice to enhance protection, engagement, connection with families and leaving care support. K E Y W O R D S ambiguous loss, interpretative phenomenological analysis, out-of-home care, therapeutic residential care 1 | INTRODUCTION Young people in residential care are perceived to be the most marginalized and vulnerable group in the out-of-home care (OoHC) population (Berridge, Biehal, & Henry, 2012). Residential care has been increasingly used for containment of 'hard cases' (McLean, Price-Robertson, & Robinson, 2011, p. 1) in most developed Anglophone countries following deinstitutionalization since the late 1960s. Consequently, residential care is often the last resort OoHC placement option, catering for young people who have 'failed' multiple foster and kinship care placements (Whittaker, del Valle, & Holmes, 2015, p. 330). Within this context, young people in residential care have the most complex and entrenched needs across different developmental domains (Leloux-Opmeer, Kuiper, Swaab, & Scholte, 2017). However, poor outcomes of residential care are commonly reported in the literature. Child maltreatment in residential care remains a key concern despite a spate of government inquiries, recommendations and national apologies both in Australia (Fernandez et al., 2017; The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 2017) and internationally (Daly, 2014). Specifically, group care settings in residential care have been found to place young people at greater risks of physical and sexual abuse, both by adults (Attar-Schwartz, 2011; The Royal Commission into

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's lived experiences of therapeutic residential care

Kor

Fernández

Spangaro

2020

Child & Family Social Work

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“…Children have stated that they feel unsafe in residential care (Moore et al 2016). Notwithstanding the potential dangers inherent in leaving a care placement therefore, some children may believe they have no choice.…”

Section: Relationship Between Police and Residential Staffmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We Don't do Measure and Quotes’: How Agency Responses Criminalise and Endanger the Safety of Children Missing in Care in New South Wales, Australia

Colvin

McFarlane²,

Gerard

et al. 2018

Howard J Crime Justice

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This article presents qualitative data from interviews with 46 welfare and justice professionals to examine the criminalisation of children who go missing within the Out‐Of‐Home‐Care (OOHC) residential environment. Participants had specific experience with children living in residential facilities, either through the direct provision of care services, the development of OOHC policy initiatives or through their role as law enforcement, legal or justice personnel. The research found that agency practices, which were designed to protect children, actually serve to conflate going missing with criminality, accelerating children's involvement in the justice system and ultimately endangering children's safety.

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“…There is now a growing body of evidence based on children's views that identifies ‘keeping safe and feeling secure’ as critical to their social and emotional wellbeing (Fattore & Mason, 2017; Powell, Graham, Fitzgerald, Thomas, & White, 2018). It is also now well established that caring, respectful, appropriate relationships, especially with trusted staff, play a key role in fostering the safety and wellbeing of children and young people and reducing the likelihood of them experiencing harm (Graham, Powell, & Truscott, 2016; Moore, McArthur, Heerde, Roche, & O'Leary, 2016; Moore, McArthur, Roche, Death, & Tilbury, 2016; Robinson, 2016; Thomas, Graham, Powell, & Fitzgerald, 2016). Nevertheless, institutional efforts tend to be more directed towards preventing inappropriate relationships from forming (Brown, Winter, & Carr, 2018; Coady, 2014; Munro, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child safety in policy: Who is being kept safe and from what?

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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Keeping children safe from harm is a national policy priority in Australia. Extensive inquiries and reviews have highlighted institutions' persistent failures to respond ethically and appropriately to child abuse and its lifelong impacts on survivors. Policy efforts now reflect considerable emphasis on safeguarding children, including through the development of 'child safe' organisations. The realisation of these policy aspirations requires close attention to how 'child safe' is conceptualised and operationalised in different organisational contexts. Drawing on an analysis of policy in Australia and other international jurisdictions, namely New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland, this article engages critically with the notion of 'child safe' in policy, to explore who is to be safe, from what and how, in organisational settings. The findings suggest emergent discourses of 'child safe' are bound up with particular constructions of both children and safety, reflect current social and political understandings and agendas, and have implications for organisations' approaches to safety. Ensuring the safety

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Safe and Sound: Exploring the safety of young people in residential care

Abstract: The views and findings expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Commission.

Cited by 18 publications

References 78 publications

Interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's lived experiences of therapeutic residential care

Interpretative phenomenological analysis of young people's lived experiences of therapeutic residential care

‘We Don't do Measure and Quotes’: How Agency Responses Criminalise and Endanger the Safety of Children Missing in Care in New South Wales, Australia

Child safety in policy: Who is being kept safe and from what?

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