Children and Residential Care Experiences - Essay Example

"Children and Residential Care Experiences" is an engrossing example of a paper on child development.

Implementation of the program

This program was implemented after it became apparent that placing children in residential care agencies produced unwanted results. This meant that residential care agencies were not living up for the purposes that they were meant to achieve. The dream was far from being achieved as the residential care agencies were not adding much value to the children they accommodated. Gains in the field of social sciences have also had a great influence on realizing that residential care agencies were not meeting their objectives (Holden& Kuhn 2010). Scholars have seen the need for developing the principles and practices of residential care agencies so as to upscale the services provided for the children in those institutions.

Describe the program

This program is designed to build the capacity of the staff at the residential care agencies to provide quality care to the children at these centers. This is after a well-researched and informed practice model was introduced to help improve the social-emotional prospect of the children’s lives. The staff at these centers will be trained on issues related to trauma, human ecology, child development, attachment, and family involvement (Coddington, Fischer & Moore 2000). This training will enable the personnel at residential centers to build their capacity, enhancing their interactions with the children and adjusting their expectations. The program mainly aims at improving interactions between the staff and the children. By doing so, this will improve the social and emotional wellbeing of the children.

How the program will help resolve the issues in the first question

After undergoing this intense training the personnel of the residential agencies will be able to effectively interact with the children. This is expected to improve on the children’s perception of themselves. Training will also enable the staff to provide tailor-made services to the children. This is important for the children since they come from diverse backgrounds and are each one of them is faced with a different problem. This program will help the residential centers to live up to their expectations and provide better services to the children (Dubbs & Browning 2002).

Positive aspects of the program

This program identifies the problem on the ground. It then conducts well-informed research on how the issues on the ground can be solved.  The training offered to the staff or personnel of the residential care will be effective in improving the interactions between the staff and the children (Applebaum & Wohl 2000). The training will also help the staff to treat each child individually since not all children at these residential agencies face the same problems. Another positive is that the program offers training centered on competence, improving relations between the personnel and the children, family involved, focused on the development of the children, how to deal with trauma affecting these children and ecologically focused.

Changes that would improve the program

          I think that offering training to personnel is not enough. The staff at these centers should be vetted afresh to make sure they meet with the requirements of this program. The effects of this program will not be known to the management unless the management measures the influence of the program on the children. Proper checks and balances should also be put in place to make sure that the program is implemented fully.