Evaluating Fostering Futures Therapeutic Fostering Service

Evaluating Fostering Futures therapeutic fostering service through action research: bringing together evidence and value-based approaches to evaluation. A presentation given by Laura Stock, Ian Taberrer and Dr Dione Hills, to the UK Evaluation Society.

Transcript

1. Nottinghamshire County Council Evaluating Fostering Futures Therapeutic Fostering Service Bringing together evidence-based and value-based approaches to evaluation through action research Authors (in alphabetical order) Dr Dione Hills, Dr Milena Stateva, Laura Stock, Ian Taberrer
2. Introduction 2
3. 3 Some thoughts on values in research on fostering l[I]n other services such as health and education, while there are value issues to be thought through, they do not often involve the very basics of the service in the way they routinely do in child care. Are children better off in an adoptive home that provides them with a legally secure family but cuts them off from their birth family, or in a foster home that may keep their family alive for them but does not provide the same level of legal security? … In child-care practice, decisions are loaded with morality, politics and values.z Kelly in Kelly and Gilligan (eds) 2000 (61)
4. 1) Fostering Futures 4
5. 5 The convention wisdom about fostering`s failings l[T]he recent evaluation of foster care and its outcomes have been taking place in an era when the conventional wisdom has been that it is not as good a solution to the problem of children`s long-term separation from their families as adoptionz Kelly in Kelly and Gilligan (eds) 2000 (61) l Evidence that children and young people placed in local authority care often fail to achieve bsatisfactory wellbeing in adulthood` is a matter of concern in most Western societiesz Ward 2008
6. 6 Historical threads in fostering bThe Finding of Moses` by Frederick Goodall
7. 7 Abandonment and Exposure in Ancient Rome lAn infant could be abandoned without penalty or social stigma for many reasons, including an anomalous appearance, being an illegitimate child or grandchild or a child of infidelity, family poverty, parental conflict (ob discordiam parentum) or being one of too many children. Sometimes there were given to friends, but more often than not they were abandoned to the elements… It was likely that the expositi were rescued from these fates and picked up by slavers. Abandonment generally occurred in a public place, where it was hoped that the infant could be taken up by some wealthy person… Such an infant was considered a res vacantes (an unclaimed thing) and legally could be claimed. If picked up by wealthy persons, the child could become a slave, a play companion for another child, a pet (delicia), or a prostitute; it could be sold for begging purposes after mutilation or become a truly adopted child, a treasured alumnus." From A.R. Colón with P.A. Colón, A History of Children: A Socio-cultural Survey Across Millennia, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT (2001)
8. 8 Louis XIV with his wet nurse
9. 9 Hogarth`s bGin Lane`
10. 10 Foundling hospitals Thomas Coram
11. 11 Elizabeth Brownrigg
12. 12 Historical threads in fostering •  Abandonment, escape, loss and feckless parenting •  Claiming and belonging •  Giving of nurture as a lowly function •  Saving and improving •  Exploitation and abuse •  Institutional v family care
13. 13 Fostering Now •  Most children in care have experienced child abuse and unresponsive parenting – many are significantly damaged by their early life experiences •  The foster carer`s role is increasingly complex and located in a more professional context •  Shortage of foster homes and the rise of a bmixed economy` of fostering provision Sinclair 2005 (pp15-16)
14. 2) Evaluation Approaches: Conceptual and Methodological Framework 14
15. 15 Tensions in foster care •  la lack of a widely accepted theory appropriate to foster care, which has sometimes been seen as something which carers do bby the light of nature` •  a lack of choice of foster placements •  the exacerbation of previous stresses on foster carers arising from the difficulties posed by taking into their house children who have often been abused, who may accuse them of abuse and whose parents may find the situation difficult but who nevertheless have to be made welcome •  a tension between the needs of foster children for a bprofessional approach` based on an understanding of their difficulties with a need in many cases for long-term care with an opportunity to stay with their carers until they are adults •  a lack of attention to long-term foster care as opposed to the more highly valued adoptionz Sinclair 2005 (pp16-17)
16. 16 Why using an action research approach? lThe audit process is in danger of creating an increasingly closed and defensive system, where people`s energies are directed towards meeting official targets that are limited and only marginally related to the quality of outcomes for users. Such a state of affairs would not be so harmful if we were working in an area with an established body of knowledge and clear ideas about what needed to be done. This is far from being the case. Social work needs an open system in which innovation, experiment and good quality evaluation is encouraged.z Eileen Munroe, bThe Impact of Audit on Social Work Practice` BJSW (2004) 34, 1093
17. The action research cycles 17
18. Theory of Change maps 18   Exercise: drawing a map of your project • Given who you thought might be the main ‘users’ of your evaluation, which aspect of your project do you think they will be most interested in? A B C D E F If…. Initial issue/ context Then… Rationale for intervention Then…. Actions Taken Then… Short-term outputs Then… Interim outcomes Then… Long-term impacts
19. 3) About our Fostering Futures supported self-evaluation: bringing together action research and evaluation 19
20. Action Research 20 Action research is a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowledge in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview … It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of issues of pressing concern to people. (Reason and Bradbury 2008)
21. •  bAction without reflection is blind, just a theory without action is meaningless`
    (Reason & Bradbury 2008). •  bLearning is enhanced through action & action is more effective alongside learning`
    (Pedlar 1991). •  bOrganisations become active participants in their own learning rather than passive recipients of information`
    (Checkoway & Rochards-Schuster 2004) 21
22. Evaluation Questions: •  Service Level: Does Fostering Futures make a difference to children`s lives? What is working well & what could be improved? •  Foster Family Level: What makes Foster Carers good carers? To what extent is the therapeutic approach to Fostering successful? •  Children Level: Does young people`s wellbeing improve? What could change with Fostering Futures & what could stay the same? 22
23. Using drawings 23 Taking turns, each participant puts their drawing on the wall and the others guess what is showed on the drawing. Then the author explains his or her idea. The researcher makes notes of the discussions. Children present each other’s drawings. This drawing is an illustration only, not a part of the presented research due to ethical considerations.
24. Body sculpture 24 This photos are an illustration only, not a part of the presented research due to ethical considerations. Step 1: How does Fostering Futures look now? This way of working asks the group to build a sculpture using their bodies to make the shape and answer questions about the organisation. Step 2: What would we like Fostering Futures to look like in 1 year time?
25. Back to Fostering Futures 25
26. 4) Questions to the audience 26 •  Does this ring any bells for anyone? •  Is anyone facing similar dilemmas? •  Does the audience have any other examples of bringing together values-based and evidence-based evaluation?