Looking into Looked After Children (LILAC):Trialling
the Incredible Years Parent Programme with Foster
Carers
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Project funded by Wales Office of Research & Development for Health & Social Care (WORD)
Dr. Tracey Bywater, Prof Judy Hutchings, Dr. Dave Daley, Dr. Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, Ms Pat Linck, Prof Ian Russell
The IY BASIC Parenting Programme:
•Focuses on strengthening parenting skills with the intention of preventing, reducing, & treating conduct problems, & increasing social competence
among children aged 2-8 years.
•Consists of 12 weekly sessions that emphasise the importance of play, relationship building, ways to help children learn, effective praise, use of
incentives, limit setting, & ways to deal effectively with misbehaviour. A collaborative approach is emphasised, with skills developed through group
discussion, videotape modeling, rehearsal & home assignments.
•Has been researched over the last 30 years using randomised controlled group studies with long-term positive results replicated by independent
researchers in both academic & service settings
The Need for Parent Training research with Carers of LAC in Wales:
•Around 5000 Looked After Children in Wales (42% with conduct disorders)
•14% of these had 3 or more placements in one year
•In 6 North Wales Authorities approx 750 Looked After Children (53% boys)
•Mike Lewis-Children in Wales- states,
“ care leavers are 50 times more likely to go to prison, 60 times more likely to be homeless and 88 times more likely to be involved in drug use than
children and young people who have not been ‘looked after’ by local authorities”.
Evaluation Questions
Measures
Methodology
•At the two time points:
•Is the programme effective in supporting
carers, increasing the toolkits they have to
deal with certain behaviours, and reducing
child behaviour problems in Looked After
Children ?
•How do carers and leaders respond to the
programme and what, if any, difficulties are
experienced in using the programme?
•How many services do Looked After
Children and their carers access, and what is
the cost?
•Demographics
•Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory - LAC & sibling
•Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire - LAC
•Service use Questionnaire - LAC & carer
•Health EQ5 - carer
•Arnold & O’Leary Parenting Scale - carer
•Beck Depression Inventory - carer
•O’Leary-Porter Scale - carer
•Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire - teacher
•Teacher Questionnaire - teacher
•3 Authorities from North & Mid Wales
•1 intervention group & 1 control
group in each authority
•46 LAC (24 boys, 22 girls): 29
intervention, 17 control condition with
age range 2-16 years
•Measures administered at baseline &
follow-up, 6 months later
•Over a six-month period:
•A diary of service use - LAC & carer
Table 1. The expenditure of local authority provided foster
care in 3 Local Authority areas and the whole of Wales Based
on figures from the Local Government Data Unit
LA 1
LA 2
LA 3
Wales
Gross annual expenditure
on LAC in local authority
foster care including respite £1,936,000 £1,325,000 £1,404,000 £42,387,000
Gross weekly expenditure
per LAC in LA provided
Foster care including respite
£429
£305
£334
£294
The total number of weeks
which children spent in local
authority foster care or
placed for adoption including
respite care.
4510
4348
4199
144189
The total number of LAC
at 31 March 2007
including respite (includes
those in externally
purchased provision
and secure units
189
139
122
4791
LAC costs
LAC behaviour outcomes
•Top down - the numbers of LAC &
associated costs have been compiled by
•Using nationally recorded data sources
(Local Government Data Unit 2007, (see
Table 1)
•And by correspondence with Local
Authorities
The ECBI is a carer-completed report
showing number& intensity of child problems
(see Figure 1)
Figure 1. ECBI mean intensity of child problems
•Bottom-up - carer given information
•In order to improve foster care services
and the allocation of resources we need
to know the full range of contacts that
Looked After Children (and foster carers)
have with health, social care and special
education services
•Carers may use more services when
looking after a particularly difficult child
Summary of Outcome Findings
Differences exists between intervention & control groups at follow-up 1, showing statistically significant outcomes for the intervention children in:
•
ECBI intensity of problem behaviour, see Figure 1 (even after controlling for possible differences due to area, condition, age of child, special
needs)
•
Carer reported SDQ hyperactivity levels
•
Teacher reported SDQ hyperactivity levels
•
In addition carer depression levels in the intervention group were significantly reduced at follow up.
•
Cost analysis is ongoing at present
Conclusions
•
•
Carers enjoyed the experience and found the programme useful and supportive in dealing with difficult behaviour
Looked After Children’s behaviour improved
•
•
Hopefully this means that:
in the future there will be less placement breakdowns leading to…
Societal cost benefits
Contact: t.bywater@bangor.ac.uk