Contact between children in out-of-home placements and their family and friends networks: A research review

Child and Family Social Work

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 298-309

  Sen, Robin ^a   Broadhurst, Karen ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE   (United Kingdom)

^b LANCASTER UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Family contact; Foster care; Reunification; Siblings

Indexed keywords

EID: 79960160642     PISSN: 13567500     EISSN: 13652206     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00741.x     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. Bebbington, A. & Miles, J. (1989) The background of children who enter local authority care. British Journal of Social Work, 19, 349-368.
2. Berrick, J. & Needell, B. (1999) Recent trends in kinship care: public policy, payments and outcomes for children. In: The Foster Care Crisis: Translating Research into Practice and Policy (eds P.A. Curtis, G. Dale & J.C. Kendall), pp. 152-174. Child Welfare League of America and University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
3. Berridge, D. & Cleaver, H. (1987) Foster Home Breakdown. Blackwell, Oxford.
4. Biehal, N. (2006) Reuniting Looked after Children with Their Families. A Review. National Children's Bureau, London.
5. Bilson, A. & Barker, R. (1995) Parental contact with children fostered and in residential care after the Children Act 1989. British Journal of Social Work, 25, 367-381.
6. Boer, F. & Spiering, S.M. (1991) Siblings in foster care: success and failure. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 21, 291-300.
7. Bond, H. (2007) 10 Top Tips, Managing Contact. BAAF, London.
8. Bowlby, J. (1951) Maternal Care and Mental Health. World Health Organisation, Geneva.
9. Broadhurst, K. & Pendleton, T. (2007) Revisiting children 'home on trial' in the context of current concerns about the costs and effectiveness of the Looked After Children system: findings from an exploratory study. Child & Family Social Work, 12, 380-389.
10. Brown, E., Bullock, R., Hobson, C. & Little, M. (1998) Making Residential Child Care Work. Ashgate, Aldershot.
11. Bullock, R. (2008) Leadership, structure and culture in residential child care. In: Residential Child Care: Prospects and Challenge (ed. A. Kendrick), pp. 226-237. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
12. Bullock, R., Hosie, K., Little, M. & Millham, S. (1990) The problems of managing the family contacts of children in residential care. British Journal of Social Work, 20, 591-610.
13. Bullock, R., Little, M. & Millham, S. (1993) Going Home: The Return of Children Separated from Their Families. Dartmouth, Aldershot.
14. Carr, J. & Hilton, Z. (2009) Children's charities' coalition on internet safety: digital manifesto. Action for Children. Available at: (accessed 7 December, 2009).
15. Cleaver, H. (1991) Vulnerable Children in Schools. Dartmouth, Aldershot.
16. Cleaver, H. (1998) Contact: the social worker's experience. Adoption and Fostering, 21, 34-40.
17. Cleaver, H. (2000) Fostering Family Contact: Studies in Evaluating the Children Act 1989. Department of Health, The Stationery Office, London.
18. Cook, D.A. (2008) Narrowing the focus and broadening horizons: complementary roles for systematic and nonsystematic reviews. Advances in Health Science Education, 13, 391-395. DOI 10.1007/s10459-008-9140-4.
19. Dads Space 1-2-1 the Virtual Child Contact Centre' (2009) Accessed at: (accessed 1 December 2009).
20. Department for Children, Schools and Families (2007) Care Matters: Time for Change. DCSF, London.
21. Department of Health (1991) Patterns and Outcomes in Child Placement. HMSO, London.
22. Department of Health (1994) The Children Act 1989: Contact Orders Study. Social Services Inspectorate, Department of Health, London.
23. Dubowitz, H., Feigelman, S. & Zuravin, S. (1993) A profile of kinship care. Child Welfare, vol. 72, 2, 153-169. Child Welfare League of America.
24. Eva, K.W. (2008) On the limits of systematicity. Medical Education, 42, 852-853.
25. Fanshel, D. & Shinn, E. (1978) Children in Foster Care - A Longitudinal Study. Columbia University Press, New York.
26. Farmer, E. (2009) What factors relate to good placement outcomes in kinship care. British Journal of Social Work, Advanced Access. 1-19. DOI:10.1093/bjsw/bcp007.
27. Farmer, E. & Owen, M. (1995) Child Protection Practice: Private Risks and Public Remedies. HMSO, London.
28. Farmer, E., Moyers, S. & Lipscombe, J. (2001) The Fostering Task with Adolescents, Report to the Department of Health. School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol.
29. Farmer, E., Sturgess, W. & O'Neill, T. (2008) The Reunification of Looked after Children with Their Parents: Patterns, Interventions and Outcomes. University of Bristol, Bristol. Research Brief to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, School for Policy Studies. Available at: (accessed 30 December 2009).
30. Fostering Services Regulations (2002) Statutory instrument 57, Office of Public Sector Information. Available at: (accessed 12 January 2010).
31. Fratter, J., Rowe, J., Sapsford, D. & Thoburn, J. (1991) Permanent Family Placement: A Decade of Experience. BAAF, London.
32. Freeman, P. & Hunt, J. (1998) Parental Perspective on Care Proceedings. Stationary Office, London.
33. Gibbs, I. & Sinclair, I. (1999) Treatment and treatment outcomes in children's homes. Child & Family Social Work, 4, 1-8.
34. Grigsby, R. (1994) Maintaining attachment relationships among children in foster care. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 75, 269-276.
35. Hegar, R. (1988) Legal and social work approaches to sibling separation in foster care. Child Welfare, 67, 113-21.
36. Hegar, R. (2005) Sibling placement in foster care and adoption: an overview of international research. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 845-861.
37. Herrick, M.A. & Piccus, W. (2005) Sibling connections: the importance of nurturing sibling bonds in the foster care system. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 845-861.
38. Humphreys, C. & Kiraly, M. (2009) Baby on Board, Executive Summary of Report of the Infants in Care and Family Contact Research Project. University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Available at: (accessed 6 April 2010).
39. Hunt, J. (2003) Family and friends carers scoping paper. Prepared for the Department of Health. Available at: (accessed 2 January 2010).
40. Hunt, J., Waterhouse, S. & Lutman, E. (2008) Keeping Them in the Family: Children Placed in Kinship Care through Care Proceedings. BAAF, London.
41. James, S., Monn, A.R., Palinkas, L.A.B.C. & Leslie, L.K. (2008) Maintaining sibling relationships for children in foster and adoptive placements. Children and Youth Services Review, 30, 90-106.
42. Kenrick, J. (2009) Concurrent planning: a retrospective study of the continuities and discontinuities of care, and their impact on the development of infants and young children placed for adoption by the Coram Concurrent Planning Project. Adoption and Fostering, 33, 5-18.
43. Kosonen, M. (1996) Maintaining sibling relationships - neglected dimension in child care practice. British Journal of Social Work, 26, 809-822.
44. Loxterkamp, L. (2009) Contact and truth: the unfolding predicament in adoption and fostering. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 14, 423-425.
45. Mackaskill, C. (2002) Safe Contact? Children in Permanent Placement and Contact with Their Birth Relatives. RHP, Lyme Regis.
46. Malet, M., Mcsherry, D., Larkin, E., Kelly, G., Robinson, C. & Schubotz, D. (2010) Young children returning home from care: the birth parents' perspective. Child & Family Social Work, 15, 77-86.
47. Masson, J. (1997) Maintaining contact between parents and children in the public care. Children and Society, 11, 222-230.
48. Masson, J., Harrison, C. & Pavlovic, A. (1997) Working in Partnership with Lost Parents. Research Report for The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.
49. Millham, S., Bullock, R., Hosie, K. & Haak, M. (1986) Lost in Care: The Problems of Maintaining Links between Children in Care and Their Families. Gower, Basingstoke.
50. Moyers, S., Farmer, E. & Lipscombe, J. (2006) Contact with family members and its impact on adolescents and their foster placements. British Journal of Social Work, 36, 541-559.
51. Neil, E. & Howe, D. (eds) (2004) Contact in Adoption and Permanent Foster Care. BAAF, London.
52. Ofsted (2009) Keeping in Touch. A report of children's experience by theChildren's Rights Director for England. Accessed at: (accessed 18 January 2010).
53. Quinton, D., Rushton, A., Dance, C. & Mayes, D. (1997) Contact between children placed away from home and their birth parents: research issues and evidence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2, 393-413.
54. Rowe, J., Hundleby, M. & Garnett, L. (1984) Long Term Foster Care, Batsford. BAAF, London.
55. Rushton, A. (2004) A scoping and scanning review of research on the adoption of children placed from public care. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 89-106.
56. Rushton, A., Dance, C., Mayes, D. & Quinton, D. (2001) Siblings in Late Permanent Placements. BAAF, London.
57. Ryburn, M. (1999) Contact between children placed away from home and their birth parents: a reanalysis of the evidence in relation to permanent placements. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 4, 505-518.
58. Schofield, G. & Stevenson, O. (2009) Contact and relationships between fostered children and their birth families. In: The Child Placement Handbook, Research (eds G. Schofield & J. Simmonds), pp. 178-202. BAAF, London.
59. Schofield, G., Beek, M., Sargent, K. & Thoburn, J. (2000) Growing up in Foster Care. BAAF, London.
60. Sen, R. (2010) Managing contact in Scotland for children outside parental care in non permanent-placement. Child Abuse Review, Early View Articles, DOI: 10.1002/car.1139.
61. Shaw, C. (1998) Remember My Messages... The Experiences and Views of 2, 000 Children in Public Care in the UK. Who Cares? Trust, London.
62. Shlonsky, A., Webster, D. & Needell, B. (2003) The ties that bind: a cross-sectional analysis of siblings in foster care. Journal of Social Service Research, 29, 27-52.
63. Sinclair, I. (2005) Fostering Now: Messages from Research. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
64. Sinclair, I., Wilson, K. & Gibbs, I. (2001) A life more ordinary: what children want from foster placements. Adoption and Fostering, 25, 17-26.
65. Sinclair, I., Baker, C., Gibbs, I. & Wilson, K. (2005a) Foster Children: Where They Go and How They Get on. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
66. Sinclair, I., Wilson, K. & Gibbs, I. (2005b) Foster Placements: Why They Succeed and Why They Fail. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
67. Smith, G. (1995) Do children have a right to leave their pasts behind them. In: See You Soon, Contact with Children Looked after by Local Authorities (ed. H. Argent), pp. 85-99. BAAF, London.
68. Smith, M. (2009) Rethinking Residential Child Care: Positive Perspectives. The Policy Press, Bristol.
69. Thomas, C., Beckford, V., Lowe, N. & Murch, M. (1999) Adopted Children Speaking. BAAF, London.
70. Tregeagle, S. & Darcy, M. (2007) Child welfare and information and communication technology: today's challenge. British Journal of Social Work, 36, 1481-1498.
71. Triseliotis, J., Borland, M. & Hill, M. (2000) Delivering Foster Care. BAAF, London.
72. Utting, W., Rose, N. & Pugh, G. (2001) Better Results for Children and Families. NCVVO, London.
73. Vincent, A. & Graham, A. (2002) Through the letterbox: indirect contact arrangements. In: Staying Connected (ed. H. Argent), pp. 65-79. BAAF, London.
74. Whelan, D. (2003) Using attachment theory when placing siblings in foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 20, 21-36.
75. Wilson, K., Sinclair, I., Taylor, C., Pithouse, A. & Sellick, C. (2004) Fostering Success: An Exploration in the Research Literature in Foster Care, Knowledge Review 5. Social Care Institute for Excellence, London.
76. Wulczyn, F. & Zimmerman, E. (2005) Sibling placements in longitudinal perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 741-763.
77. Youdan, P. (1995) 'Hello mother, hello father' contact in residential care. In: See You Soon, Contact with Children Looked after by Local Authorities (ed. H. Argent), pp. 120-131. BAAF, London.