Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-lpg2g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T21:49:35.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Programs for high needs children and young people: Group homes are not enough

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Frank Ainsworth and
Patricia Hansen
Frank Ainsworth
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Community Welfare James Cook University Townsville Campus, Qld 4811, Email: frankainsworth@hotmail.com
Patricia Hansen
Affiliation:
Australian Catholic University Strathfield Campus, Sydney, NSW 2135, Email: patricia.hansen@acu.edu.au
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recently the Department of Community Services in New South Wales and the Department for Child Safety in Queensland have both released information about funding and the award of contracts for group homes and other residential services. In addition, in the 2008 discussion about out-of-home care at the Wood Commission of Inquiry into the Child Protection Services in New South Wales, group homes were discussed in terms of them being less demanding environments than foster care. The view presented was that group homes are appropriate for some young people who are either unsuitable for foster care or who want a less intimate setting than that provided by foster care. This article argues that group homes or residential programs, against the New South Wales and Queensland descriptions, fail to respond to the need for quality residential programs for children and youth. This is partly due to the low level of training for staff in group homes and high staff turnover.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 33 , Issue 2: SPECIAL EDITION: The future of residential care in Australia , 2008, pp. 41 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

DChS—see Department of Child SafetyGoogle Scholar
DHS—see Department of Human ServicesGoogle Scholar
DoCS—see Department of Community ServicesGoogle Scholar
Ainsworth, F. & Fulcher, L.C. (1985) ‘Group care practice with children’, in Fulcher, L.C. and Ainsworth, F. (eds.), Group care practice with children, London: Tavistock Publications, pp. 1–17.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, F. & Hansen, P. (2005) ‘A dream come true – no more residential care: A corrective note’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 14, 3, 195–199.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, F. (2003) ‘Unfounded assumptions and the abandonment of “at risk” youth’, Children Australia, 28, 1, 24–28.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, F. (2006) ‘Group care practitioners as family workers’, in Fulcher, L.C. & Ainsworth, F. (eds.), Group care practice with children and young people revisited, New York: Haworth Press, pp. 75–86.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, F. (2007) ‘Residential programs for children and young people: What we need and what we don't need’, Children Australia, 32, 1, 32–36.Google Scholar
Anglin, J.P. (2002) Pain, normality and the struggle for congruence: Reinterpreting residential care for children and youth, New York: Haworth Press.Google Scholar
Barber, G.H. & Delfabbro, P.H. (2004) Children in foster care, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bath, H. (2007) ‘The development of residential care in Australia. Part 1. Service trends, the young people in care, and needs-based responses’, Children Australia, 33, 2.Google Scholar
Bullard, L. & Johnston, K. (2005) ‘Residential services for children and youth in out-of-home care: A critical link in the continuum of care’, in Mallon, G.P. & Hess, P. McCartt (eds.), Child welfare for the twenty-first century: A handbook of practices, policies and programs, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Clark, R. (1997) A review of intensive out-of-home care services, Sydney: Department of Community Services.Google Scholar
Department of Child Safety (2007) Grant funding information paper 2007-08: Therapeutic Residential Services, accessed 19 April 2008, <http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/funding/calendar/2007/therapeutic-residential.html>..>Google Scholar
Department of Child Safety (2008) Therapeutic residential services, accessed 19 April 2008, <http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/funding/calendar/2007/therapeutic-residential.html>..>Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2006) Costing manual for child and family services in New South Wales, March, Sydney.Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2007a) Improving the New South Wales out-of-home care system: Some emerging issues, March, Sydney.Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2007b) Out-of-home care service model: Supported family group home, April, Sydney.Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2007c) Out-of-home care service model: Residential care, April, Sydney.Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2008) A better service system for out-of-home care, February, Sydney.Google Scholar
Department of Human Services (2007) New Hurstbridge Farm Centre opens, media release from the Minister of Community Services, Victoria, 8 June.Google Scholar
Dishion, J., McCord, J. & Poulin, F. (1999) ‘When interventions harm: Peer groups and problem behaviours’, American Psychologist, 54, 9, 755–764.Google Scholar
Douglas, T. (1986) Group living. The application of group dynamics in residential settings, London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Fecser, A.F. & Long, N.J. (2000) Life space crisis intervention, Hagerstown, MD: Institute of Psycho-educational Training.Google Scholar
Gibbs, J., Potter, G.B. & Goldstein, A.P. (1995) The EQUIP program: Teaching youth to think and act responsibly through a peer helping approach. Champaign, IL: Research Press.Google Scholar
Goldstein, A.P. (1998) Aggression replacement training. A comprehensive intervention for aggressive youth, Champaign, IL: Research Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, P. & Ainsworth, F. (1983) ‘Family and parenting analogies in Australian residential child care: A time for change’, Australian Journal of Family and Child Welfare, 8, 3/4, Spring/Summer, 3–5.Google Scholar
Holden, M. (2001) Therapeutic crisis intervention: Training manual, 5th edition, Residential child care project, Family Life Development Center, Ithica, NY: Cornell University. http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/funding/calendar/2007/therapeutic-residential-services Google Scholar
Maier, H.W. (1975) ‘Learning to learn and living to live in residential treatment’, Child Welfare, 54, 6, 406–420.Google Scholar
Miller, E.J. & Gwynne, G.V. (1972) A life apart, London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Mulligan, T. (2008) Commission of Inquiry Report: Children in state care, SA Department for Families and Communities, Adelaide, March.Google Scholar
Pumariega, A. (2006) ‘Residential treatment for youth: Introduction and a cautionary tale’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 3, 281–284.Google Scholar
Schmied, V., Brownhill, S. & Walsh, P. (2006) Models of service delivery and interventions for children and young people with high needs, September, Sydney: Department of Community Services, Centre for Parenting and Research.Google Scholar
Vorrath, H.H. & Brendtro, L.K. (1985) Positive peer culture, New York: Aldine.Google Scholar
Wagner, G. (1988) Residential care: A positive choice, report of the Independent Review of Residential Care, London: National Institute for Social Work.Google Scholar
Western Australian Ombudsman (2006) Report on allegations concerning the treatment of children and young people in residential care, Perth, August, accessed 18 September 2006, <www.ombudsman.wa.gov.au>..>Google Scholar
Wood, J. (2008) Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW, Sydney. Available at <www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/cpsinquiry>..>Google Scholar