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Volume 5 No.1 — February/March 2006

See Editorial

Contents

Editorial
Irene Stevens ..............................................:........................................ iv

The National Care Standards: hearing the voices of young
people in residential care
Irene Stevens and Pauline Boyce ............................................................1

Improving outcomes for care leavers: evaluating a care
leaver's assessment of need tool
Wendy Harrington .....................................................:.......................... 16

The homes from Hell? Media perceptions of residential
child care
Anne Clackson, Sheryl Lindsay and Alan Macquarrie............................... 25

Securing safer care staff: the use of capabilities in the
assessment, selection and training of staff to work in
residential care
John Watson, Janice Gould, Gerry Sullivan and Jayne Cockerill............... 37

Residential child care and the psychodynamic approach: is
it time to try again?
Charles Sharpe..................................................................................... 46

The participation of children and young people in the
recruitment of residential child care staff in Scotland
Helen Kay and Irene Stevens..................................................................57

Book review
Facing forward
Adrian Ward ........................................................................................ 66

Editorial

Welcome to the Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care

One of the key skills in residential child care practice is assessment. In this edition of the journal, several writers have taken some aspect of assessment as their theme, be it risk assessment, assessment of new staff, or a tool for assessing the needs of care leavers. This prompted me to reflect on assessment in residential child care. In its broadest sense, assessment refers to the evaluation of a range of variables in the young person's life which then have an impact on their functioning. By highlighting strengths and pinpointing vulnerabilities, we can organise interventions which help our young people to develop resilience. But surely assessment is not just about the identification of discrete issues which become targeted as areas for improvement? Gestalt theorists such as Lewin (1935) would suggest that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, especially when it comes to people and relationships. Certainly, by understanding the results of our assessments, we will have greater insight into the behaviour of the young people in our care. But it is wider than that. My reflections took me to a very old book I have by Larry Brendtro and Arlin Ness. I think the key message about assessment comes down to the fact that it must remain an organic and dynamic process. Brendtro and Ness (1983) talk about the need for assessment to be an `ecological process, encouraging an understanding of behaviour as part of the lifespace. However, the most important message from the book is the centrality of the worker to the process. As they say

The most effective assessment of the child's functioning ... is not made by a remote therapist but by an individual who is actively involved. Likewise the greatest influence in changing troubled children seldom comes from the 50 minute therapy session but rather from the adults and peers who are directly involved .... in the other 23 hours. (Brendtro and Ness, 1983, p. 19)

For me, this means that assessment should never be undertaken for its own sake. Filling out forms and ensuring that paperwork is complete should not be an end in itself. The development of assessment systems and tools can help to direct work but they should be seen as complementary to the dynamic activity which happens at all points during those other 23 hours.

Irene Stevens
Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
 

References

Lewin, K. (1935) A dynamic theory of personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brendtro, L. and Ness, A.E. (1983) Re-educating troubled youth. New York: Aldine.

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