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5 AUGUST 2009
NO 1470
The core of our work
A complex network of relationships that comprises parents, social workers, children and young people, managers, policy-makers and sometimes the general public influence each interaction between any child in care and their care workers. Thus, professional staff and others in the general sphere of residential care who may think they are background factors are, in fact, very much in the foreground even though not physically present all of the time. That well known family therapy sound bite that claims that "background is fore-ground" may well be overused but that does not mean that it is not true. We have found this to be so. We believe the Northern Ireland context of residential child care serves as a practical example of this idea of "back-ground and fore-ground factors". In the past few years, significant progress regarding improvements in the stock of local children's homes has become evident; the quality of living environments is improving. This progress relates to the Children Matter plans (Social Services Inspectorate N Ireland, 1998). Policy-makers and planners who do not interact on a daily basis with children and young people in residential care deserve credit for initiating these improvements and for planting the seeds of the differentiated system of care envisioned in the Children Matter report. We are, however, very concerned that the emphasis is entirely on "bricks and mortar". The total residential child care service in Northern Ireland is small and would benefit greatly from a centre like the Scottish Institute on Residential Child Care. An initiative like this would provide leadership on practice issues and on specialised training. Our view is that equal and parallel emphasis needs to be given to practice as well as improvements in "bricks and mortar". Leadership in the area of practice and training is not aspirational. It is essential, for it is as recent as 2001 that the Northern Ireland Assembly described the local residential child care service as being "in a state of crisis" (Committee for Health Social Services and Public Safety, 2001). Our point is that the sector needs leadership to develop a vision that builds on current good evidence-based practice that acknowledges the complexities of service delivery needs more that a bricks and mortar strategy.
JOHNNIE GIBSON, MARCELLA LEONARD AND MENA WILSON
Gibson, J.; Leonard, M. and Wilson, M. (2004). Changing residential child care: A systems approach to consutation training and development. Child Care in Practice, 10, 4. p. 346.
REFERENCES
Committee for Health Social Services and Public Safety (2001). Inquiry into residential and secure accommodation for children in Northern Ireland (Vol. 1). Belfast. Northern Ireland Assembly.
Social Services Inspectorate N. Ireland. (1998). Children matter: A review of residential child care services in Northern Ireland. Belfast. Department of Health and Social Services.
