RESEARCH UNDERWAY
updated May 2007
Maintaining family-based placements for children and young people with disabilities
Project team
University of Sydney and NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC)
Prof Gwynnyth Llewellyn
Prof Anita Bundy
Dr Rachel Mayes
Rebecca Barton
Carmen Jarrett
Assoc Prof David McConnell
Alison Wannan
Overview
The 3-year project is being undertaken by the University of Sydney in partnership with the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC), and is funded by the ARC Linkage scheme. The purpose of this study is to enable families with children with severe disabilities to continue to care for their child at home.
Approach
DADHC Regional Directors in three areas of NSW (two metropolitan and one country) will use the DADHC data base to randomly sample potential participants who are English-speaking parents of children (birth to six years; 10-14 yrs) and young people (16-21 yrs) with severe disabilities living at home. Primary parent-carers will be interviewed in order to develop a Work-Family-Care Assessment Interview tool which will be trialled and refined with other family members meeting the same criteria.
Anticipated outcomes
- The development of a reliable, valid and practical Work-Family-Care Assessment Interview (WFCAI) that will identify families struggling to care for their children at home.
- The development of a Family and Practitioner Guide (FPG) which will provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms and strategies promoting integration of work, family and care demands.
The achievement of these two aims will provide DADHC practitioners with the means to identify struggling families at risk of relinquishing the care of their child and mobilise, in a timely fashion, support systems that will benefit these families.
Related Publications
Llewellyn, G., Dunn, P., Fante, M., Turnbull, L., & Grace, R. (1999).
Family factors influencing out-of-home placement decisions. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 43(3), 219-241.
Llewellyn, G., & McConnell, D. (under review). Out-of-home placement of school-aged children with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.
Llewellyn, G., Thompson, K., Whybrow, S., McConnell, D., Bratel, J., Coles, D., & Waring, C. (2003).
Supporting families: Family well-being and children with disabilities. School of Occupation & Leisure Sciences. Sydney: University of Sydney. ISBN 186487 556 9
Llewellyn, G., Thompson, K., & Whybrow, S. (2004). Activism as a mothering occupation. In S. Esdaile & J. Olsen (Eds.). Mothering occupations: Challenge, agency and participation. (pp. 282-305). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Publishers.