This article reports on an exploratory study about maintaining and supporting the cultural identity of children from culturally and linguistically diverse family backgrounds in foster care placements. In this study, we spoke with foster carers and caseworkers who respectively live and work with children from culturally and linguistically diverse…

Background: Challenging and disruptive behaviour is commonly reported among children placed in the out-of-home care sector. Little is known about how stakeholders in this sector understand or manage challenging behaviour. Method: Ninety-two stakeholders in the South Australian out-of-home care sector were interviewed about their approach to…

Outcomes measurement has become a contemporary requirement for non-profit, government, and private sector child, youth, and family service providers throughout North America as well as in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Cost-effectiveness, care planning, service evaluations, and fiscal audits are now commonplace…

A model of service delivery called Wraparound, which was developed in the USA, focuses on maximising collaboration between stakeholders, including the client and their support network, as well as services involved. It is used extensively in the disability, mental health, juvenile justice, education and out-of-home care fields across North America.…

Examined the implementation of "Looking After Children" materials in five Australian States and Territories. Found that few system changes were required for cultural reasons. Initial fears of increasing workloads were outweighed by positive responses from practitioners, caregivers, and youth with experience in the out-of-home care…

Examined issues raised by pilot implementations of "Looking After Children" materials in social-work agencies in England, Canada, Australia, and Sweden. Found that implementation required major organizational change and new values and attitudes toward children in out-of-home care. Difficulties arose when management and monitoring systems…

This paper reports on a study which focused on surveying children and young people (aged 4 to 17) regarding their experiences of childhood, schooling, family, and community. Participants focused on the importance of their connections to fellow children and young people, their families, and their educators. They identified ways for adults to care…

Parental pressure to include formalised school-type literacy lessons has been reported as a factor influencing the types of phonics instruction young children encounter in the prior-to-school years. Parents and early childhood teachers support effective phonics instruction through guided play-based learning in the prior-to-school years. Few…

Children and young people with chronic health conditions are at greater risk of school absence and poorer educational achievement than their healthy peers. A range of strategies are implemented in home, school and hospital settings to improve the connection of these children and young people to their educational pathways, yet gaps in provision…

Studies assess children's satisfaction with their current placement experiences in South Australian alternative care. Over 80 per cent of children reported being satisfied with both their case-worker and their placement, although children in residential care reported being less satisfied than their counterparts in foster care. (Contains 16…

Karen Orr Vered demonstrates how children's media play contributes to their acquisition of media literacy. Theorizing after-school care as intermediary space, a large-scale ethnographic study informs this theory-rich and practical discussion of children's media use beyond home and classroom.

The majority of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to as "Aboriginal") people live in urban centres. Otitis media (OM) occurs at a younger age, prevalence is higher and hearing loss and other serious complications are more common in Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal children. Despite this, data on the…

A common theme in the literature on care-giving is the issue of "hidden" carers, that is, people who undertake caring roles and responsibilities, yet do not identify themselves as carers. One reason people do not recognise themselves as carers relates to the nature of the caring relationship. When providing care for a family member,…

The influence of parental and early childhood factors on adolescent obesity was investigated using a longitudinal model of body mass index (BMI) from birth to 14 years. Trajectories of BMI using linear mixed model (LMM) analysis were used to investigate the influence of early parental and childhood factors on BMI at 14 years in the Raine birth…

This study examined factors contributing to short-term reunification for 235 children placed in South Australian substitute care from 1998 to 1999. Findings indicated that non-Aboriginal children and those placed because of parental incapacity were significantly more likely to go home, than neglected and Aboriginal children. Detailed profile…