The analysis of the historical development of child protection in Spain and Italy shows remarkable common aspects. There has been a strong tradition of using residential care by means of large institutions, mostly run by catholic religious organizations, in both countries, and both have had to face the challenge of changing the tendency of this institutional care to a family based care. On the other hand, both countries share a Mediterranean culture where the family has been the main provider of personal and social wellbeing, although the welfare state has achieved a high level of development with large health, education, and social services coverage in the last decades. The current financial crisis of these countries is jeopardizing these recently attained advances and again the importance of family support is becoming crucial. The article reviews the historical development of out-of-home care in both countries and compares foster family and residential care, as well as the main research contributions to these topics in both countries.
Family foster care is attracting growing attention around the world as a service for children and youths who are placed in out-of-home care or at risk for such placement. In this essay we present selected findings from studies that have been conducted in Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America-countries that in recent years have sought to improve services for young people at risk. We have chosen studies that were based on empirical findings and/or covered primarily issues regarding the outcome of family foster care services rather than out-of-home care in general. 1 Our major purpose is to highlight what is known in this practice arena and suggest implications for further research.
AustraliaThere is limited related research in Australia, where until recently there has been greater emphasis on placement in institutions or group homes for young persons requiring out-of-home care.2 In particular, there is little research on minority children and youths, even though they constitute an increasing proportion of those in care in some Australian states.Since the federal government closed many residential settings in the 1980s and 1990s, there has been increasing reliance on foster family care or some other form of family-based care. As a result, as of June 30, 2003, there were over 20,000 children in out-of-home care, with 51% living with foster parents (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004). It should be noted that there is a high proportion of Aboriginal children in care. Although the latter comprise only 2.7% of children in Australia, they constitute over 20% of those in out-of-home care; 77% of these are placed with an indigenous family or with relatives (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004).
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