Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T00:32:12.048Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Using Looking After Children to create an Australian out-of-home care database

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Sarah Wise
Sarah Wise*
Affiliation:
Australian Institute of Family Studies, 300 Queen Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a paucity of publicly available information on Australian children in out-of-home care. Data on the characteristics of children in care, their experiences during placement, and the services provided for them are badly needed to monitor service effectiveness, to identify where service improvements can be made and to ascertain how to improve the allocation of resources. This paper provides a rationale for using information collected on the ‘Looking After Children’ (LAC) schedules to generate an Australia-wide database on children in out-of-home care, as well as identifying some of the problems to be overcome if the LAC schedules are to be used to collect aggregate data.

Type
Section Three: Data Collection
Information
Children Australia , Volume 28 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Out-of-home care: Building a national research agenda , 2003 , pp. 38 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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.)

References

REFERENCES

Ainsworth, F. (1997) ‘Foster care research in the US and Australia: An update’, Children Australia, 22(2), pp. 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2002) Child Protection Australia 2001-02: First National Results, Child Welfare Series No. 31, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.Google Scholar
Bailey, S., Thoburn, J. & Wakeham, H. (2002) ‘Using the “Looking After Children” dimensions for collect aggregate data on wellbeing’, Child and Family Social Work, 7, pp. 189–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnardos Australia and the LAC Project (2002) The UK ‘Looking Afler Children’ System in Australia: Thoughts and Experiences of Barnardos Australia LAC Implementation, The LAC Project, Monograph No. 47, Barnardos Australia, NSW.Google Scholar
Bath, H. (1994) ‘Out-of-home care in Australia: a State by State comparison’. Children Australia, 19(4), pp. 4–10.Google Scholar
Bell, M. (1988/99) ‘The Looking After Children materials: A critical analysis of their use in practice’. Adoption and Fostering, 22(4), pp. 15–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandon, M., Lewis, A., Thoburn, J. & Way, A. (1999) Safeguarding Children with the Children Act 1989, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Clare, M. (1997) ‘The UK “Looking After Children” project. Fit for “out-of-home care” practice in Australia?’, Children Australia, 22(1), pp. 29–35.Google Scholar
Clare, M. (forthcoming) ‘Overseas developments in the Looking After Children project with specific focus on UK research’, Children Australia.Google Scholar
Department of Health (1995) Looking After Children: Assessment and Action Records, Essential Information Records, Care Plans, Placement Plans and Review Forms, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Dixon, D. (2001) ‘Looking After Children in Barnardos Australia: A study of the early stages of implementation’, Children Australia, 26(3), pp. 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flynn, R., Ghazal, H., Moshenko, S. & Westlake, L. (2001) ‘Main features and advantages of a new, ‘Canadianized’ version of the Assessment and Action Record from the Looking After Children’, Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies Journal, 45(2), pp. 36.Google Scholar
Huxley, P. (1994) ‘Outcome measurement in work with children: Comparing plans in the UK with experience in the US’, Child Abuse Review, 3(2), pp. 120–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, S. (1998) ‘Looking After Children: A new approach or just an exercise in formfilling? A Response to Knight and Caveney’, British Journal of Social Work, 28, pp. 45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, H., Clark, R., Kufeldt, K. & Norrman, M. (1998) ‘Looking After Children: Assessing outcomes in child care: the experience of implementation’, Children and Society, 12(3), pp. 212–222.Google Scholar
Kufeldt, K., Simard, M. & Vachon, J. (2000) Looking After Children, Unpublished report submitted to Social Development Partnerships of Human Resources Development Canada.Google Scholar
Moyers, S. (1997) Looking After Children: Audit of implementation in Year One (1995-96), Dartington Social Research Unit, Totnes.Google Scholar
Parker, R. (1998) ‘Reflecting on the assessment of outcomes in child care’, Children and Society, 12(3), pp. 192–201.Google Scholar
Parker, R., Ward, H., Jackson, S., Aldgate, J. & Wedge, P. (1991) Looking After Children: Assessing Outcomes in Child Care, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Peel, M. (1997) Looking After Children: Audit of implementation in Year Two (1996-97), University of Leicester: Leicester.Google Scholar
Sanson, A., Nicholson, J., Ungerer, J., Zubrick, S., Wilson, K., Ainley, J., Berthelson, D., Bittman, M., Broom, D., Harrison, L., Rogers, B., Sawyer, M., Silburn, S., Strazdins, L., Vimpani, G. & Wake, M. (2002) Introducing the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Scott, J. (1999) Report of an audit of the implementation of ‘Looking After Children’ in Year 3: 1997-1998, University of Leicester School of Social Work, Leicester.Google Scholar
Skuse, T., Macdonald, I. & Ward, H. (2001) Outcomes for Looked After Children, Third Interim Report to the Department of Health on Looking After Children: Transforming Data into Management Information, Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough.Google Scholar
Thoburn, J., Norford, L. & Rashid, S. (2000) Permanent Family Placement for Children of Minority Ethnic Origin, Jessica Kingsley, London.Google Scholar
Thoburn, J., Wilding, J. & Watson, J. (2000) Family Support in Cases of Emotional Maltreatment and Neglect, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Ward, H. (1998) ‘Using a child development model to assess the outcomes of social work interventions with families’. Children and Society, 12(3), pp. 202–211.Google Scholar
Ward, H. (1995) Looking After Children: Research into Practice, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Ward, H. & Skuse, T. (1999) Looking After Children: Transforming Data into Management Information, Report of First Year of Data Collection, Loughborough University and Dartington Social Research Unit.Google Scholar
Wise, S. (2003) ‘An evaluation of a trial of Looking After Children in the State of Victoria, Australia’, Children and Society, 17, pp. 3–17.Google Scholar
Wise, S. (forthcoming) ‘The Child in Family Services: Expanding Child Abuse Prevention’, Australian Journal of Social Work.Google Scholar