Since it's founding in 1997, the CYC-Net discussion group has been asked thousands of questions. These questions often generate many replies from people in all spheres of the Child and Youth Care profession and contain personal experiences, viewpoints, as well as recommended resources.
Below are some of the threads of discussions on varying Child and Youth Care related topics.
Questions and Responses have been reproduced verbatim.
Listen to thisHi all,
I have a question about differing practices around the world in relation
to transitions into placements. Does anyone know of any research or
literature about the optimum length of time for a good transition into a
placement, and what kind of activities or procedures are followed in
relation to transitions? Also, could anyone speak to their own
service's practice in relation to this issue?
Australia is just beginning to introduce therapeutic residential care
and we are looking for ideas in some areas such as this.
Cheers
Laurel Downey
Cairns, Australia
...
Laurel,
Transitioning into any facility is difficult, especially for youth who
are going into residential care. Depending on your age group will depend
on what you are able to offer them and what steps you need to do to work
with them to make the transition run as smoothly as it can. It is also
important that you prepare the youth for the transition so that they are
aware of what is going on and what is going to come of it. No matter
what they need more support at this time then any. They are going some
place new and chances of them knowing people could be slim, especially
staff. I know that when I worked with youth getting ready to transition
into a new facility we sat down and had an open conversation about it,
let them know where they were going, what to expect and what they wanted
to work on before leaving the current facility. The youth have a voice
and it is important they are listened to. That at times is our biggest
mistake. For our older youth at this one facility we started it as soon
as we found out the transition was coming. We didn't share all the
information at that time as the location wasn't known. The first step we
took was talking about goals! A transition can take a few days, weeks,
months. It all depends on the time frame that management and community
services gives you. Making sure management informing the staff of what
is happening in the meetings is also key so that you can help the youth
the best way that you can.
Ashley Gibbs
...
Hi Laurel
Don't know of any literature.
Some things I've learned over the years.
1. For the parents. A man with whom I worked in the 1980's
used to take time to make two special points with parents: Your
child will be safe, call whenever you need to. Do not feel guilty.
You worked hard and struggled. You deserve a break. Trust us to
care for your child and relax. Treat yourselves to something
special.
2. It was fairly traditional in most programs in Louisiana to have
a 30-day adjustment period during which time children were not allowed
home passes. This was generally accepted as common wisdom and was common
practice. Then, in a group home that closed on holiday weekends
and sent all the kids home, we had to send home children on occasion on
their first or second weekend in the program. It didn't seem to
compromise their transition into the program in any way.
3. I prefer to admit children early in the week. I do not
take kids on Thursdays if I can avoid it, and never on Fridays. In
reviewing some data, I noted a high correlation between children who
failed in the program and the time of the week they were admitted.
Successful kids were admitted early in the week, those who failed tended
to have been admitted on Thursdays or Fridays. In fact, all of the
children who were admitted on a Friday failed in the program within 1 to
3 weeks, for various reasons, including being 'rescued' by parents who
removed them from the program. I theorized that relationships are
important. Not just with staff but also with other children.
During the preadmission screening and the actual admission, children
tend to develop relationships with the 'professional' staff – social
workers, managers, administrators – the people who tend not to be
available on weekends. And weekends tend to be more relaxed and
less structured. So new children feel abandoned when all of a
sudden they are left alone for 2 or 3 days with both kids and staff whom
they do not know, and don't see the people they do know for 2 or 3 days.
They are vulnerable to any kids who might take advantage of them, or who
might seek to develop relationships with them that are
counterproductive, as when kids who are not doing well in the program
look for allies or support from new kids who have not yet formed other
relationships. When children are admitted earlier in the week and
have a problem on their first or second night, they can find staff the
next day with whom they have begun a relationship. I am sure
skillful and well trained weekend staff can minimize or avoid such
problems, but I prefer to avoid the problems.
4. I do not admit more than one child on a unit in a given week.
New children feel vulnerable. When two new children are admitted
in the same week, this is a strong bond – the two new kids tend to form
a very strong relationship that sometimes undermines their developing
relationships with staff and with other children. They tend to
support each other. When one of them has some tendencies to be
oppositional (most of the children we treated tended to be oppositional)
and has the support of a peer, this can be a very challenging obstacle
to overcome. When only one child is admitted in a week, new
children are more likely to form healthy relationships with staff and be
open to more healthy relationships with other children.
I don't know whether others will agree, but that's been my experience.
John Stein
New Orleans
...
Concerning transitions into residential placement, I
failed to mention in my previous reply about setting expectations with
children before they arrive.
I learned from hiring staff that whatever we talked about in their job
interviews were the job they accepted – the job they came to do.
If we talked about activities and counseling, they came to do activities
and counseling with the kids. They made these things priorities
did these things well. But then itwas very difficult to get them
to do other things, like make log entries andwrite reports and
supervise chores. When we talked too much about reports and log
entries, they made these things priorities and did them well, but spent
too much time in the office and not enough with the kids. So we began to
be very deliberate in setting expectations in job interviews.
It's the same with the kids.In our pre-placement interviews, we used to
tell kids about the good stuff – the activities and the recreation – in
addition to the treatment stuff. Then realized some of the kids
were coming expecting only to have fun and play games. We stopped
talking about the fun stuff and concentrated on the other stuff,
responsibilities, school, study hall, expectations, etc. We let
the fun stuff take care of itself.
And we used to do interviews with the kids and then admit them the same
day. We came to realize that the expectations with which they came
to the interview were often not realistic. State workers were not
always accurate in telling children what to expect, and children did not
have time to digest what we told them in their visit if we accepted them
the same day. So we adopted a policy of not admitting children
immediately, scheduling admissions at least one day after the interview
so that children would have some time to adjust their expectations.
And we had children visit the program for a few hours during the evening
routine of dinner, cleanup, study hall, and chores. It helped a lot with
their initial adjustment to the program after they were admitted.
John Stein
New Orleans
