Welfare Reform on the Web (May 2002): Child Welfare - Overseas

COMPETITIVE TENDERING AND OUT OF HOME CARE FOR CHILDREN: THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

J. G. Barber

Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 24, 2002, p. 159-174

Family and Community Services in South Australia were reformed in the 1990s, leading to the contracting out of foster care provision. Article argues that the model for this restructuring was flawed in two important respects :

• the whole service was contracted out to one (or a few) providers, which led to the creation of monopolies;
• competition was restricted to the not-for-profit sector.

THE GENERATIONAL CONFLICT RECONSIDERED

G. Epsing-Andersen and S.Sarasa

Social Policy, vol. 12, 2002, p. 5-21

Incomes of families with young children are deteriorating while the well-being of the elderly has improved, leading to fears of an emerging generational clash. Article aims to identify a win-win policy model that would simultaneously ensure child and elderly welfare. Argues that social investment in children now will improve their life chances and future productivity as members of the labour force. A skilled and productive future labour force will help to ensure the long term sustainability of pensions for the elderly. Article goes on to discuss which policy mix would prove most effective in eliminating child poverty.

IDEOLOGY AND THE CHOICE BETWEEN WORK AND CARE: SWEDISH FAMILY POLICY FOR WORKING PARENTS.

U. Björnberg

Critical Social Policy, vol. 22, Feb. 2002, p. 33-52

Article describes Sweden's policies for parental leave and childcare, and their implications for gender equality. While paid parental leave entitlement (of at least 12 months) is subject to involvement in the labour market, a parent may ask for part-time work until a child is eight years old and is allowed up to 60 days paid nursing leave a year. In addition, the expectation is that publicly supported child care should be available for all. In spite of these arrangements, attempts to get fathers to share responsibility for childcare with mothers have been relatively unsuccessful.

KINSHIP CARE : ISSUES IN PERMANENCY PLANNING

C. J. Smith, C. Rudolph and P. Swords

Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 24, 2002, p. 175-188

Paper assess the implementation of the goal of permanency planning, articulated in the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) with a group of children placed with relatives by the child welfare system at one year or less. It compares the outcomes of permanency between infants placed with relatives and those placed in foster care in a middle sized county in upstate New York in 1993/94 and followed until 1996. Results showed that those children placed with relatives tended to remain longer in care, and did not experience permanency as defined by ASFA to the same degree as children placed in foster care.

LARGE SCALE CHANGES IN THE GERMAN RESIDENTIAL CARE SYSTEM DURING THE 1980S

P. Hansbauer

European Journal of Social Work, vol. 5 2002, p. 21-29

In West Germany during the 1980s extensive reforms took place in residential care for young people with behavioural problems aged 16 and over. Non-institutional individual care was introduced, which involved young people living either alone or in groups of two or three in inner city apartments hired by a residential home. Social work support was limited to a few hours per day,depending on the young person's needs. Article explores how non-residential individual care was able to establish itself nationally in West Germany when other innovations failed to take hold.