‘Private Family Arrangements’ for children in Ireland: The informal grey space in-between state care and the family home

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dc.contributor.authorBurns, Kenneth
dc.contributor.authorO'Mahony, Conor
dc.contributor.authorBrennan, Rebekah
dc.contributor.funderDepartment of Children and Youth Affairs, Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderCloyne Diocesan Youth Service, Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderUniversity College Corken
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-06T13:17:46Z
dc.date.available2021-04-06T13:17:46Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-22
dc.date.updated2021-04-06T11:36:26Z
dc.description.abstractThe literature on alternative care focuses overwhelmingly on formal, court-ordered placements; voluntary care placements are discussed less frequently. Least attention of all has been given to informal kinship care placements, where a child is cared for by relatives but is not formally in the legal care of state authorities. In Ireland, these placements, when facilitated by state authorities in lieu of a care order or voluntary care agreement, are known by professionals as ‘private family arrangements’. This article explores evidence which shows that the use of such arrangements is motivated partly by a concern for subsidiarity, and partly by necessity: they provide a source of placements in cases where regulatory requirements and a lack of resources would otherwise make the placement challenging or impossible. However, this strategy carries significant risks. Private family arrangements receive less support and oversight from state authorities than formal care placements, and family members providing care under this model have no legal rights or responsibilities in respect of the child(ren). This places the child(ren) in a precarious position and raises concerns regarding a lack of equity of care. The article will illustrate the impact of these concerns and make recommendations for reform.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity College Cork (College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences and School of Law)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationBurns, K., O’Mahony, C. and Brennan, R. (2021) '‘Private Family Arrangements’ for Children in Ireland: The Informal Grey Space In-Between State Care and the Family Home', The British Journal of Social Work, 51(4), pp. 1203-1220. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab032en
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/bjsw/bcab032en
dc.identifier.eissn1468-263X
dc.identifier.endpage1220en
dc.identifier.issn0045-3102
dc.identifier.journaltitleBritish Journal of Social Worken
dc.identifier.startpage1203en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/11178
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcab032
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en
dc.subjectChild protectionen
dc.subjectChildren’s rightsen
dc.subjectInformal kinship careen
dc.subjectKinship diversionen
dc.subjectPrivate family arrangementsen
dc.title‘Private Family Arrangements’ for children in Ireland: The informal grey space in-between state care and the family homeen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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