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Kinship Care research project - Joan Hunt |
From your perspective: invitation to participate in research
Research with the South East Kinship Care Group for Professionals
The South East Kinship Care Group for Professionals, which is facilitated by Grandparents Plus, has now been going for more than 10 years. In that time at least 170 practitioners, from over 40 local authorities, have attended, and others keep informed through the mailing list. The group therefore represents a unique store of professional expertise on kinship care and the needs of practitioners engaged in this work. We would now like to harness that expertise through a research project, which is being undertaken in partnership with Joan Hunt, an experienced kinship care researcher, now Honorary Professor at Cardiff Law School.
The research will:
· explore practitioner perspectives on working in kinship care
· evaluate the South–East Kinship Care Group for Professionals.
As some of you will be aware, this research was due to start last year, but had to be suspended because Joan required lengthy medical treatment. Now recovered, she has completed the first stage of the research – analysing minutes of the group meetings – and is now ready to start on the second, key stage, telephone interviews with practitioners. We are therefore writing to everyone on our mailing list (again) to invite their participation. It is expected that interviews will last up to one hour.
At least 20 practitioners, from different local authorities, will be needed to make the findings of the research valid, so we do hope that a good number of you will volunteer. You can find further details of the research, and the researcher, below.
Evaluation of the Professionals’ Group.
The group was established to provide an opportunity for social workers working in kinship care to meet to share information and ideas and to talk about the practice challenges they face. Grandparents Plus has facilitated the group by providing a basic secretariat service, chairing meetings and organising external speakers. The aim of this part of the research will be to find out from attendees what they value about the group and ideas for improving or developing it. Grandparents Plus is considering establishing similar groups in other parts of the country and the views of those attending this group will be important in developing the model.
Practitioner perspectives on working in kinship care
It is anticipated that the greater part of the interview will be spent on exploring practitioner experiences of working in kinship care. This will be the first piece of research to focus on this. Grandparents Plus is also interested to learn what more they could do to support practitioners. There will be some initial questions to establish the interviewees’ involvement in kinship care, how they came to their present position, and the structure of kinship services in their authority. After this the interview will give practitioners an opportunity to talk about the work, what they enjoy about it, the challenges and issues they face, the skills and knowledge the task requires and what more is needed to support effective practice.
Joan Hunt
Joan Hunt is an experienced empirical researcher with a special interest in kinship care. She has conducted two major studies specifically on kinship care (Hunt, J., Waterhouse, S. and Lutman, E: Keeping them in the Family: Outcomes for children placed in kinship care through care proceedings, BAAF; Hunt, J. and Waterhouse, S. (2013) It’s Just Not Fair! Support, need and legal status in family and friends care, FRG). She is the author of a scoping paper commissioned by the Department of Health to inform policy development
The South East Kinship Care Group for Professionals, which is facilitated by Grandparents Plus, has now been going for more than 10 years. In that time at least 170 practitioners, from over 40 local authorities, have attended, and others keep informed through the mailing list. The group therefore represents a unique store of professional expertise on kinship care and the needs of practitioners engaged in this work. We would now like to harness that expertise through a research project, which is being undertaken in partnership with Joan Hunt, an experienced kinship care researcher, now Honorary Professor at Cardiff Law School.
The research will:
· explore practitioner perspectives on working in kinship care
· evaluate the South–East Kinship Care Group for Professionals.
As some of you will be aware, this research was due to start last year, but had to be suspended because Joan required lengthy medical treatment. Now recovered, she has completed the first stage of the research – analysing minutes of the group meetings – and is now ready to start on the second, key stage, telephone interviews with practitioners. We are therefore writing to everyone on our mailing list (again) to invite their participation. It is expected that interviews will last up to one hour.
At least 20 practitioners, from different local authorities, will be needed to make the findings of the research valid, so we do hope that a good number of you will volunteer. You can find further details of the research, and the researcher, below.
Evaluation of the Professionals’ Group.
The group was established to provide an opportunity for social workers working in kinship care to meet to share information and ideas and to talk about the practice challenges they face. Grandparents Plus has facilitated the group by providing a basic secretariat service, chairing meetings and organising external speakers. The aim of this part of the research will be to find out from attendees what they value about the group and ideas for improving or developing it. Grandparents Plus is considering establishing similar groups in other parts of the country and the views of those attending this group will be important in developing the model.
Practitioner perspectives on working in kinship care
It is anticipated that the greater part of the interview will be spent on exploring practitioner experiences of working in kinship care. This will be the first piece of research to focus on this. Grandparents Plus is also interested to learn what more they could do to support practitioners. There will be some initial questions to establish the interviewees’ involvement in kinship care, how they came to their present position, and the structure of kinship services in their authority. After this the interview will give practitioners an opportunity to talk about the work, what they enjoy about it, the challenges and issues they face, the skills and knowledge the task requires and what more is needed to support effective practice.
Joan Hunt
Joan Hunt is an experienced empirical researcher with a special interest in kinship care. She has conducted two major studies specifically on kinship care (Hunt, J., Waterhouse, S. and Lutman, E: Keeping them in the Family: Outcomes for children placed in kinship care through care proceedings, BAAF; Hunt, J. and Waterhouse, S. (2013) It’s Just Not Fair! Support, need and legal status in family and friends care, FRG). She is the author of a scoping paper commissioned by the Department of Health to inform policy development