This report describes the results of the interviews that were held with professionals, policy makers, and researchers (working in the field of sexuality and/or residential and foster care) in three countries in order to answer the following question: ‘Which competencies (i.e. knowledge, skills, and attitude) do professionals working in care need in order to support healthy sexual development of young people in care? Chapter 3 describes the characteristics of young people growing up in care. Young people in care are generally more vulnerable than their peers living in normal families since they have grown up in unsafe family environments. They are often insecurely attached, have a lack of positive role models and positive sexual experiences, have not grown up with clear norms and values concerning sexuality, have low self-esteem and little knowledge about (healthy) sexuality. This set of characteristics makes them more likely to cross their own boundaries and that of others and to make unhealthy choices with regard to sexuality. Therefore, young people in care have special needs with regard to sexuality that professionals working in care should know about and act upon. To meet the special needs of young people in care, professionals should create a safe environment and be there for the young people, in order to make them feel safe and secure again. In addition, they should act as positive role models, set boundaries, help young people to gain self-confidence, and give them space to have positive sexual experiences and to discover their own norms and values. Professionals working in care should provide sexual education that supports young people in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes concerning sexual development and teaches them to make wise and responsible decisions for themselves. Professionals need to put aside prejudices about boys and girls and treat them equally. Chapter 4 describes opportunities to start a conversation with young people in care about sex, intimacy and relationship and what professionals should teach foster parents. Opportunities to start a conversation with young people in care are: 1. When one of the boys or girls spontaneously starts to talk about sexuality; 2. When young people have discussions about boyfriends, girlfriends, or sex. 3. When young people watch clips on social media in which sexuality plays a role. Important topics to discuss are: healthy sexual behaviour, relationships, wishes, boundaries, making your own decisions, changing behaviour after regretting something, norms and values, and social media. Professionals working in foster care should teach foster parents that: 1. It is their task to speak about this topic with their foster child; 2. They should already start talking about this topic to toddlers; 3. It is normal to have difficulties talking about this topic; 4. They should not only speak about the risks of sex but also about sexual pleasure, desire, love, and respect. Chapter 5 describes the personal characteristics and general competencies that professionals working in care should have in order to support the sexual development of young people in care. These are: 1. Have a high degree of self-awareness concerning their own limits, norms and values, and how this influences the way they work, 2. Know that norms and values are dependent on time and culture, 3. Treat children, young people, and parents with respect, 4. Have a good sense of professional judgment, 5. Feel responsible for one’s actions, 6. Have knowledge about trauma theory. Chapter 6 describes what organisations can do to support healthy sexual development of young people in care. Organisations can do the following on the organizational level: 1. Provide structural resources for training and reflection, 2. Create a safe environment and reflective culture, 3. Create diversity among team members, 4. Create access to experts on the topic of sexuality, 5. Pay attention to competencies during hiring processes, 6. Have organisational and institutional policies on the topic of sexuality, 7. Have organisational structures and tools to support relationships and conversations with young people.Chapter 7 describes factors at the professional, organisational, and societal level that may contribute to sexuality-related difficulties in both residential and foster care. Some of these factors are not specifically related to residential or foster care, such as low self-efficacy of professionals, insufficient time for reflection and negative media influences. Other factors are specifically related to residential care, such as having insufficient possibilities to experiment with sexuality (in residential care) and fear of foster parents being accused (in foster care).
This study explored what contributes to successful family foster care from the perspective of young people by asking them about their most positive memory of family foster care. Forty-four Dutch adolescents and young adults (aged 16–28) participated in this study and shared their most positive memory in a short interview. Their answers were qualitatively analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, supplemented with an analysis of the structure of their memories. The thematic analysis resulted in the themes Belongingness, Receiving support, Normal family life, It is better than before, and Seeing yourself grow. The structural analysis showed that young people both shared memories related to specific events, as well as memories that portrayed how they felt for a prolonged period of time. In addition, young people were inclined to share negative memories alongside the positive memories. These results highlight that, in order to build a sense of belonging, it is important that of foster parents create a normal family environment for foster children and provide continuous support. Moreover, the negative memories shared by participants are discussed in light of a bias resulting from earlier traumatic experiences. Accepted Version. Published Version Article at Sage: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1359104520978691
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Over the last two decades, there has been increasing political attention on sexual abuse in care. Research has not only shown that sexual abuse in care occurs but also that abuse can be perpetrated by other children and young people in care, children of foster carers, as well as by foster carers and residential staff members. One of the main risk factors turns out to be the absence of relationship and sexuality education in care. This chapter describes the work in a three-year project where partners in four European countries developed products to educate (future) professionals to address sex and sexuality with young people in care, assist young people’s healthy sexual development, and safeguard children and young people from abuse. Grounded in the holistic approach of the WHO’s Standards for Sexuality in Europe, and based on literature review and interviews, five core competencies were developed and operationalized in a reflection instrument. Based on this, an open access (online) course for teams in care and open access materials for social work education were developed and can be found at https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429342912/ac296fd5-0ba8-4c3d-97c0-792bf07178b6/content/www.amsterdamuas.com/safe">www.amsterdamuas.com/safe.
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A continuation and update of the first ALT-ER project, which produced an app for early-years students that allowed them to express their feelings and tell stories related to pro-social and important developmental themes. This follow-up project will expand the software and themes, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, to reflect a wider range of experiences for young people.
The Hanze Hogeschool Groningen, the Authoridad Nacional del Agua, and Waterschap Noorderzijlvest, together with several other Dutch and Peruvian universities, co-organise an annual ClimateCafé in the northern Peruvian areas Piura and Tumbes, as part of the Blue Deal project. The ClimateCafé methodology is a multiple-day participatory workshop composed by an international community and powered by individual, corporate, public, and academic climate change adaptation influencers. The aim is to educate and inspire tech and non-tech people, focusing on young professionals in a “learning by doing” interaction.
The latest IPCC Report (2022) provided by the UN shows us that, to guarantee a safe future for upcoming generations, we must change how we lead our lives on several levels. However, the increasing urgency to act and behave in a way that is not damaging the climate is bringing many psychological concerns to young generations. Worldwide reports are demonstrating how the issue of eco-anxiety is increasing daily, and how young people are feeling more hopeless than ever. Climate change has become a climate crisis, and individuals are experiencing pressure and fear incessantly (Marks et al., 2021). We, as Climate Streamers, have often found ourselves in this situation as well, but rather than freezing, we decided to take this challenge and think of solutions. Therefore, with the support of Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Performatory community, the BUas Startup Support Team, and outside mentors, we created Climate Streamers Foundation: a new youth-led non-profit organisation and a movement working towards a more inclusive and less polarised climate action. By working with leisure elements and a positive and appreciative approach, we want to give back hope, voice and power to the youth and inspire each other genuinely and sustainably. The purpose of this application is to allow us to elaborate a feasibility study concerning our MVP (minimum viable product), the card game, and boost the overall concept. We intend to implement the researched data to improve the design and sales management. The card game aims to stimulate appreciative conversations by giving space to players to express their opinions and personal stories and it is designed so everyone can play it, regardless of background and knowledge. After giving 200 games in production, we launched the card game in July 2022.
