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(In)sufficient?: Ethnicity and foster care in English local authorities.

Kirton, Derek (2014) (In)sufficient?: Ethnicity and foster care in English local authorities. Child and Family Social Work, 21 (4). pp. 492-501. ISSN 1356-7500. E-ISSN 1365-2206. (doi:10.1111/cfs.12166) (KAR id:49027)

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Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12166

Abstract

This paper examines the place of ethnicity in local authority foster care in the context of the sufficiency duty to secure adequate local placements for looked after children. The analysis draws on two main sources, namely Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED's) annual survey of fostering agencies and inspection reports for around half the local authority fostering services in England. Sufficiency is gauged in two main ways, comparing numbers of black and minority ethnic (BME) foster carers first with numbers of BME looked after children and second, with local adult (age 25–64) populations. Statistical analysis shows very wide variation on both measures and a significant minority of authorities that perform poorly in terms of the ethnic diversity of their foster carers. Inspection reports also vary widely in the degree and nature of attention given to issues of ethnicity with many offering limited (and sometimes no) challenge to poor performance. These findings are discussed within the broader context of recent trends towards de-emphasizing the significance of ethnicity in child welfare.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/cfs.12166
Uncontrolled keywords: foster care; looked after children; minority ethnic families; race
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Lisa Towers
Date Deposited: 16 Jun 2015 12:55 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 10:58 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/49027 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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