The “Key” to Successful Transitions for Young People Leaving Residential Child Care: The Role of the Keyworker

Abstract

In the absence of mandatory planning and support to assist all young people who leave care in Ireland, after-care provision is a ''neglected'' area of service provision and has been criticised for being inconsistent and ad hoc. The benefits of keyworker support for young people making the transition out of care is more clearly articulated within the literature and across policy statements and is firmly embedded as a model of good practice in working with young people in residential care. The study reported here sets out to conduct an in-depth exploration of the concept of keyworking. This is achieved by engaging young care-leavers, residential care providers and after-care support workers in qualitative interviews. By asking young people and care providers about their experiences of keyworking, it attempts to drill down into both the benefits and possible downsides of this practice model. The findings and discussion presented here are based on the pilot stage of this study, and although the findings can only be regarded as tentative in nature some important issues have emerged from the pilot stage as reported here.

Transição entre o acolhimento e a vida adulta: uma revisão sistemática sobre intervenções

“…Estas propostas partiram do pressuposto de que a transição para a vida adulta está infl uenciada por uma série de fatores que extrapolam a responsabilidade individual, para intervir terapeuticamente na expressão de emoções associadas à saída do acolhimento e na construção de relacionamentos saudáveis (Goyette et al, 2016). Por outro lado, propostas como The Outreach (Greeson et al, 2014) e Keyworking (Holt & Kirwan, 2012) apostaram no sistema de mentoria para desenvolver a rede de apoio social ao mesmo tempo em que ofereceram treinamento de habilidades. O relacionamento com mentores vem sendo apontado como uma estratégia efetiva para promover resiliência e amenizar o caminho normalmente árduo que enfrentam os jovens com história de acolhimento (Greeson, 2013).…”

‘Who do I turn to if something really bad happens?’ Key working and relationship-based practice in residential child care

“…As stated earlier, this article reports on a project initiated in 2011 (Holt & Kirwan, 2012) concerned with exploring key working and relationship-based approaches in residential child care practice, from the perspectives of residential social care workers and young care leavers. The first phase of this study accessed participants through the National Residential Child Care Managers Forum, the National AfterCare Workers Forum and a third national organisation, which advocates on behalf of young people either living within or graduated from the Irish care system.…”

“…The role of the key worker in fostering this felt security through the medium of relationship-based practice is, therefore, an obvious consideration. However, to date, there has been a dearth of research with young care leavers regarding their views on the relationship-based approach to working with children in care and the role of the key worker (Holt & Kirwan, 2012). However, it has been acknowledged in more general terms that 'the downplaying of relationship has led to serious gaps in practice' (Turney, 2012, p. 150).…”

“…In addition to processing the impact of having lived in the 'artificial environment' that is a care placement (Mullan, McAlister, Rollock, & Fitzsimons, 2007), this study reveals how leaving this 'artificial environment' abruptly at the age of 18 can be a difficult experience for young people. Research participants regarded relationship continuity with key workers as an important informal support during their transition into the 'real world', a period when they had few other forms of support (Holt & Kirwan, 2012).…”

The key to successful management of child care centres in Jordan

“…On another note, child care workers are the most influential part of a child's life, as they are the ones who interact with the child on a daily basis (Silva et al 2014). While in some contexts it has been found that such workers perfectly understood their roles and responsibilities, emphasized building a long-lasting relationship with children, and acknowledged that children need to feel a sense of love and belonging (Holt and Kirwan 2012), more studies have found that child care workers in residential care have a low educational level and limited experience (Ainsworth and Thoburn 2014). Moreover, Siyavora (2010) discovered in a questionnaire presented to childcare workers about their previous experience dealing with orphaned children that only one respondent out of 20 had previous experience of working with orphaned children.…”