Improving Services to Vulnerable Children in a Global Context

: Bridging the Research-practice Gap

Abstract

This collection of research evaluates services to vulnerable children and families across multiple nations, and emphasizes the connection between research and practice. It focuses on three primary research questions: 1) How can residential service providers align their services with research recommendations to support children in families?, 2) How have services been adapted to meet the needs of children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?, and 3) How can data on current practice and research literature combine to form data-informed
recommendations to service providers?
This thesis contains five distinct but related research papers organized into two themes. Theme one papers explore care reform practices in services to children separated from parental care (Papers 1A and 1B). Theme two papers investigate and inform services to children separated from parental care and families at risk of separation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (Papers 2A, 2B, and 2C). This research was informed by the Pragmatic Paradigm and Systems Theory, and utilized a mixed methods approach. Significant contributions to academic
knowledge included a focus on the relationship between research and practice, an exploration of new topics, inclusion of geographically diverse samples, and robust data-informed recommendations for service providers.

Date of Award	5 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Nikki Fairchild (Supervisor) & Wendy Sims-Schouten (Supervisor)