Child’s well-being after leaving a center

for infants and single mothers 

Claire Ganne, Attachée Temporaire d’Enseignement et de Recherche

Centre de Recherche en Education et FormationEquipe Education familiale et interventions sociales auprès des famillesUniversité Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

« Centres maternels »

- Special housing centers for single mothers with infants.

- They can house a woman and her child from pregnancy until the child is three years old (no age limit for the mother).

- Part of child protection services.

Families with educational difficulties which require the intervention of child protection officers.

Characteristics of accommodated families(Ganne & Bergonnier-Dupuy, 2011)

- Young women, sometimes teenagers, with family difficulties.

- Adults in great psychosocial difficulty (children in care, addictions, mental illness… ).

- Migrant women often arrived recently in France.

Themes of researches about future of children in care (Fréchon & Dumaret, 2008)

1950

19701980

2000

Focus of negative variables (Mc Cord & Thurber, 1960)

The question of the intergenerational reproduction of placement (Quinton & Rutter, 1984, Corbillon, Assailly & Duyme, 1989)

Understanding pathways

(Fréchon, 2003)

Theoretical framework

- A study about the future of children from families who had lived in a “Centre Maternel”

- Understanding “future” as a result (outcomes of the children) but also as a process (take into account the pathways)

- The ecological framework of human development (Bronfenbrenner 1979).

Two phases of the research

- First phase : observation of the ulterior trajectories of 200 families housed in a “Centre Maternel” until 2002 or 2003, to define post-centre maternel pathway typologies.

(Ganne & Bergonnier-Dupuy, 2011).

 - Second phase : exploration of the outcomes of a more

restricted sample of 33 children, about 7 years after their leaving the centres.

Aim of the second phase : to cross-reference these outcomes with the trajectories observed since leaving.

The future as a result

The six dimensions of global well-being of the child (Innocenti Research Centre, 2007).

the material conditions of life

health

education

relationships with family

relationships with peers

subjective well-being : perceived quality of life (PQOL)

Methodology

- Filling-in of the AUQUEI questionnaire (Pictured Child’s Quality of Life Self Questionnaire) (Manificat & Dazord, 1997) with 33 children aged between 6 and 12, who had stayed in a “Centre Maternel” 6 or 7 years previously.

- Correlation tests (Kruskall-Wallis test) between the perceived quality of life scores obtained with different variables : - family context, - type of residential trajectory, - type of child protection trajectory,- profile of the mother.

Link between PQOL and family context

Various family contexts :

- 5 children live with both their parents

- 7 children live in foster homes

- 13 children live with their single mother

- 8 children live in a recomposed family

Boxplot PQOL / Family contextN=33p=0.04701

Link between PQOL and residential trajectory

- Various residential trajectories :- 14 children moved into stable housing immediately on leaving the

“Centre Maternel”- 7 children experienced intermediate pathways, having moved

house between 3 and 4 times in 7 years, - 5 children have lived in a sheltered housing with their mother for

most of the time since leaving- The 7 children in foster families were often placed shortly after

leaving the “Centre Maternel”

- No significant correlation between PQOL and residential trajectory.

Link between PQOL and dominant child protection measures taken during the trajectory

- 21 children did not experience any child protection measure

- 6 were followed at home by child protection officer

- 6 are the object of long juridical placements

Boxplot PQOL / Child protection measuresN=33p=0.04471

Link between PQOL and profile of the mother

- 13 children have young mothers (20 or younger)

- 11 children have mothers who experienced great psychosocial difficulties

- 9 children have adult migrant mothers.

Boxplot PQOL / Profile of the motherN=33p=0.007877.

Discussion

- Interdependance of the familial structure, the trajectory of child protection measures and the profile of the mother.

- The age of the mother and the presence of a partner seem to be protective factors.

- Particular vigilence concerning children followed at home seems to be necessary.

Open questions

- Signifiance of the high results of children placed in foster families :

- Protective role played by the placement ?- Coping strategy ?- Social desirability bias ?

- Signifiance of the weak results obtained by the children of adult migrant mothers :

- Precarious life conditions ?- Discrepancy between the mother’s education plan and the life

context of the children?

Thank you for your attention…

Appendix 1 – AUQUEI Questionnaire

Manificat S, Dazord A. (Evaluation of the Child's Quality of Life: Validation of a Questionnaire and First Results) [In French] Evaluation de la qualité de vie de l'enfant : validation d'un questionnaire, premiers résultats. Expansion Scientifique Française 1997;45(3):106-114.

Appendix 2 – PQOL / Profile of the mother and family context