In the present study, we formulated and tested a basic model of the educational success of young people in out-of-home care. We used data from 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009 on a sample of 1106 young people in care in Ontario, Canada. The youths were 12–17 years of age; 56.24% were male and 43.76% female. The indicators of educational success in both years were the youth's average marks and the youth's school performance in reading, math, science and overall, as rated by his or her caregiver. Based on resilience theory and on a model of the influence of maltreatment on educational achievement, our model included four categories of predictors: control variables (youth gender and age and, in the longitudinal analyses, the year 7 value of the year 8 dependent variable), three placement types (foster, kinship care or group homes), three risk factors (previous repetition of a grade in school, a health-related cognitive impairment index and a measure of behavioural difficulties) and three protective factors (caregiver involvement in the youth's school, caregiver educational aspirations for the young person and the youth's total number of internal developmental assets). Cross-sectional and longitudinal hierarchical regression analyses provided mixed support for the proposed model. The youth's gender, level of behavioural difficulties and number of developmental assets, and the caregiver's educational aspirations for the young person, emerged as the most consistent predictors of educational success. The implications and limitations of the findings were discussed.

Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are the cornerstone of a child’s motor development, but concerns remain on the current level of FMS competencies, and intervention is required. This evaluation investigated if a targeted Early Years FMS intervention, delivered by a specialist physical education (PE) provider, improved the FMS of 4–5-year-old children across multiple sites. Methods: The Early Years FMS intervention ran for 18 weeks, 1 h/week, using a standardised programme of activities to develop FMS competencies across 219 children from 15 schools in the Midlands, UK. An adapted assessment was employed as a measure of FMS, assessing locomotor, object control, and stability skills at weeks 1, 9, and 18. The FMS were each rated as green = competent, amber = working towards, or red = not meeting the standards of the skill. A description of key programme implementation characteristics was described. Findings: Statistically significant increases in FMS competencies were achieved for 80% of participants at 18 weeks. Key implementation characteristics for the intervention included consistent staffing, a standardised programme, and a variety of pedagogical approaches delivered by specialist PE staff. Conclusion: This evaluation provided important insights into the effectiveness and implementation of the Early Years FMS intervention to improve FMS competencies in children aged 4–5 years.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is used increasingly internationally in child welfare as a tool for mental-health screening, referral and outcome measurement. This study compared the SDQ scores, based on ratings by foster parents or other caregivers, of 492 young people aged 11–15 years and living in out-of-home care in Ontario, Canada, with normative SDQ scores, based on parental ratings, of a large sample of young people aged 11–15 years from the British general population. Of the Ontario looked-after young people, 57% were male and 43% female, with 86% residing in foster homes and 14% in group homes. As expected, a considerably higher proportion of the Ontario looked-after sample had SDQ scores in the at-risk range, compared with the British normative sample. The findings suggested that the SDQ is likely to prove useful as a mental health measurement tool in Canadian child welfare services.

The paper begins by suggesting that child welfare systems in North America and selected European and Scandinavian countries have converged functionally over the last two decades from a focus on child protection or family service to a more comprehensive child development orientation. The overview of the US in-care system covers the topics of mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, permanency planning, foster care funding, and decentralized service provision. It also portrays the current US foster care population and describes recent research on efforts to reduce the number of children in care, differential response, practice and policy reform, subsidized guardianship, Casey Family Programs, transitions to adulthood, and racial disparities in placements in out-of-home care. The overview of the Canadian in-care system notes the responsibility of the 10 provinces and three northern territories for child welfare and the concomitant lack of national data on child protection or out-of-home care. Estimates of the number of children in care are presented, and a review of research describes the following topics: rates and types of maltreatment, over-representation of Aboriginal children in care, prevention of the recurrence of neglect and physical abuse, effects of placement into care, differential response, resilience, educational achievement, and transitions from care. The paper concludes by noting certain differences and similarities between the US and Canadian in-care systems