The latest child welfare items that should be right on your radar:
- New research: Detrimental effects of out of home placements when compared to children who stayed at home
- James Munby: Big data will help family court judges to make better decisions
- Online child sexual abuse in Northern Ireland at “an all-time high”, new figures suggest
Researching Reform 
This “new” research is actually old research. Time & time again we hear the same thing repeated after the numerous, seemingly never ending, studies carried out in different countries but repeatedly finding the same outcomes despite the countries differing social care. Children are simply better off with their own kin. If they have to go into foster care then it should be with a family member.
In the US, the largest ever research study with thousands of children over a period of time & then followed up over a longer period found that mistreated children were better off with their families rather than (stranger) foster care or institutions. Odd that some children went into care but others stayed at home but all parents were classed as mistreating their children.
In the U.K. foster care is usually thought of as non family but those children in foster care with their own family are so much better off. The non kin fosterer dominates.
What should be happening is social workers should work with families to keep the child at home or with other family members rather than take the easy option of putting a child in care & damaging that child’s future mental health.
I see this research gathering dust like all the others done before because despite knowing that children are much better off with family, social workers don’t see that option, as they only see 2 options, foster care or institutions. They ignore the damage they inflict on children by taking them from their families & putting them into care. A short term solution that creates long term mental problems for the child when he/she becomes an adult.
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For once in my life I have nothing to say because DANA (above) put all the important points so well that I can think of nothing more on this subject that I !would want to add!
Congatulations Dana !
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