You Say One Thing Wrong, and Your Children Are Gone’

Exploring Trauma-Informed Practices in Foster and Kinship Care

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10895454
AutoresKimberlea Cooper (0000-0002-1289-4465, Social Work, Community & Human Services, Institute of Education, Arts & Community, Federation University Australia , Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, autor correspondente), Christina Sadowski (0000-0003-2040-1912, Social Work, Community & Human Services, Institute of Education, Arts & Community, Federation University Australia , Ballarat, Victoria, Australia), Rob Townsend (Institute of Health and Management , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
Ano2023
Volume53
Fascículo6
Páginas3055-3072
Data de publicação2023-09-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjsw/bcad087
OpenAlexW4321789955
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas35

Trauma-informed care is a growing practice approach in child and family social work. Current policy directions in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Victoria, Australia show an interest in further implementation of trauma-informed care, particularly through training for foster and kinship carers. Drawing upon findings from grounded theory research with sixteen foster and kinship carers, this article considers the application of trauma-informed practices in home-based care in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, Australia. The research reveals that whilst carers utilise principles of trauma-informed care to support children and young people, they do not always experience trauma-informed support from the wider OOHC system. This discrepancy suggests that the implementation of trauma-informed care has the potential to increase pressure on home-based carers if it is only encouraged at the interpersonal level between carers and children, without incorporating associated systems-level change. These findings propose that whilst micro-level support and training for carers are necessary and useful, it is crucial for OOHC systems to move beyond such initiatives to plan and enact macro-level reforms

Child protection · Foster care · Interpersonal communication · Kinship · Kinship care · Political science · Sociology · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Work