Keeping in touch
Looked after children and young people’s views on their contact arrangements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11941709 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julie Selwyn (0000-0003-2336-5873, University of Oxford, corresponding author), Shirley Lewis (0000-0001-5306-1649, University of Huddersfield) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 120-137 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Adoption & Fostering (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-5759 • E-ISSN: 1740-469X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/03085759231170879 |
| OpenAlex | W4377242482 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 17 |
Research reviews of the contact arrangements for children in care have highlighted gaps in evidence. Using data from 9,316 looked after children in England and Wales aged four to 18 years, the analysis aimed to gain an understanding of children’s views of their contact arrangements. Data came from the Your Life, Your Care wellbeing surveys distributed by 42 English and Welsh local authorities between 2016 and 2020. The analysis confirmed some previous findings but challenged others. While previous UK research has emphasised that the quality of contact is more important than frequency, from the young people’s perspective frequency was equally important. Most children wanted more contact with specific individuals (and their pets) to understand why decisions had been made and wanted contact to be normalised and in the community at times to suit their and their family’s circumstances. Children in kinship placements more frequently had contact, but a quarter of the sample had no parental contact. Being in residential care, male and of an ethnic minority background were associated with dissatisfaction. Life satisfaction was not associated with whether parental contact was or was not occurring but was statistically associated with whether young people felt their contact arrangements were ‘Just right’. Recommendations for improving practice and a tool to help agencies audit their services have been developed
Audit · Ethnic group · Geography · Kinship · Perspective (graphical · Quarter (Canadian coin · Social contact · Sociology · Welsh · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Children's Rights and Participation · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology
Understanding the Subjective Well-Being of 10-and-11-year Old Foster Children in Wales
Children's voices on parental visits in long‐term foster care
Mind the gap! The potential role of direct-to-consumer genetic testing services in filling the birth family information gap for adopted adults
What is important to young people in care during adolescence? A qualitatively driven photo-elicitation study
The best interests of the child in professional assessments of contact rights when children are taken into care – An analysis
Wow, It Were Like Wow’
Navigating Family Relationships and a Sense of Home in Foster Care
I lived for those mornings’
Child’s adjustment and parent-child contact after child placement into foster care
Interventions to improve supervised contact visits between children in out of home care and their parents
Contact between children in out-of-home placements and their family and friends networks
What is the impact of birth family contact on children in adoption and long‐term foster care?’ A systematic review
Beyond Contact? Policy approaches to work with families of looked after children in four European countries
Looked after Children and Young People in England
The Subjective Well-Being of Children and Young People in out of Home Care
Contact After Adoption
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis
Family‐centred residential care
Looked after children and young people’s views on what matters to their subjective well-being
Children's, Young People's and Parents' Perspectives on Contact
Reuniting Children with their Families
Parent-Child Interaction during Foster Care Visits
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |