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Does family reunification from residential care facilities serve children's best interest? A propensity-score matching approach in Ghana

Author

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  • James, Spencer L.
  • Roby, Jini L.
  • Powell, Lindsay J.
  • Teuscher, Bryan A.
  • Hamstead, Kelsey L.
  • Shafer, Kevin

Abstract

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that children are entitled to grow up in a family environment with love, happiness and understanding. Governments and international child welfare agencies have promoted the reintegration of children currently in residential care facilities with family or other caregivers. We assess whether 157 children who spent time in a Ghanaian residential care facility but who have been reunified with their families scored differently on a battery of standardized child wellbeing measures than 204 children still living in residential care facilities using propensity score matching models. Results suggest that outcomes, including overall hope (as well as hope pathways and hope agency) and access to basic resources as measured on the Child Status Index, differ between children who were and were not reunified. These results underline the importance of supporting children's physical and psychosocial developmental needs. Children who were reunified with family members or other kin may require additional support regarding access to basic resources whereas interventions designed to increase hope in the future may benefit children in residential care. We urge a redoubling of efforts to care for children under carefully designed national schemes providing resources, trained personnel, and sustained case management.

Suggested Citation

  • James, Spencer L. & Roby, Jini L. & Powell, Lindsay J. & Teuscher, Bryan A. & Hamstead, Kelsey L. & Shafer, Kevin, 2017. "Does family reunification from residential care facilities serve children's best interest? A propensity-score matching approach in Ghana," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 232-241.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:83:y:2017:i:c:p:232-241
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    2. Manso, Juan Manuel Moreno & García-Baamonde, Maria Elena & Alonso, Macarena Blázquez & Barona, Eloísa Guerrero, 2011. "An analysis of how children adapt to residential care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1981-1988, October.
    3. Brigitte Muller & Barry Munslow & Tim O'Dempsey, 2017. "When community reintegration is not the best option: interethnic violence and the trauma of parental loss in South Sudan," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 91-109, January.
    4. Aboud, Frances & Samuel, Mesfin & Hadera, Alem & Addus, Abdulaziz, 1991. "Intellectual, social and nutritional status of children in an Ethiopian orphanage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1275-1280, January.
    5. Harris, Melissa S. & Johnson, Knowlton & Young, Linda & Edwards, Jessica, 2011. "Community reinsertion success of street children programs in Brazil and Peru," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 723-731, May.
    6. Stephen L. Morgan & David J. Harding, 2006. "Matching Estimators of Causal Effects," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 35(1), pages 3-60, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Abdullah, Alhassan & Cudjoe, Ebenezer & Manful, Esmeranda, 2018. "Barriers to childcare in Children's Homes in Ghana: Caregivers' solutions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 450-456.
    2. Ismayilova, Leyla & Beard, Lauren & Claypool, Emily & Heidorn, Emma, 2023. "From institutional care to family reunification in a post-Soviet country: A qualitative study of challenges and opportunities in restoring child-parent relationships," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. James, Spencer L. & Roby, Jini L., 2019. "Comparing reunified and residential care facility children's wellbeing in Ghana: The role of hope," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 316-325.
    4. Diana N. Teixeira & Isabel Narciso & Margarida R. Henriques, 2022. "Driving for Success in Family Reunification—Professionals’ Views on Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-20, December.

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