Waid Jeffrey, Wojciak Armeda Stevenson
School of Social Work, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States.
College of Education, University of Iowa, United States.
Eval Program Plann. 2017 Oct;64:69-77. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.05.006. Epub 2017 May 13.
Sibling relationships in foster care settings have received increased attention in recent years. Despite growing evidence regarding the protective potential of sibling relationships for youth in care, some sibling groups continue to experience foster care related separation, and few programs exist to address the needs of these youth. This study describes and evaluates Camp To Belong, a multi-site program designed to provide short-term reunification to separated sibling groups through a week-long summer camp experience. Using a pre-test post-test survey design, this paper examines changes in youth ratings of sibling conflict and sibling support across camps located in six geographically distinct regions of the United States. The effects of youth age, number of prior camp exposures, and camp location were tested using multilevel modeling procedures. Findings suggest that participation in Camp To Belong may reduce sibling conflict, and improvements in sibling support are noted for youth who have had prior exposure to the camp's programming. Camp-level variance in the sibling support outcome highlight the complex nature of relationships for siblings separated by foster care, and suggest the need for additional research. Lessons learned from this multi-site evaluation and future directions are discussed.
近年来，寄养环境中的兄弟姐妹关系受到了越来越多的关注。尽管有越来越多的证据表明兄弟姐妹关系对寄养青年具有保护潜力，但一些兄弟姐妹群体仍继续经历与寄养相关的分离，而且几乎没有项目来满足这些青年的需求。本研究描述并评估了“归属营”项目，这是一个多地点项目，旨在通过为期一周的夏令营体验，为分离的兄弟姐妹群体提供短期团聚机会。本文采用前后测调查设计，研究了美国六个地理区域的营地中，青少年对兄弟姐妹冲突和兄弟姐妹支持的评分变化。使用多层次建模程序测试了青少年年龄、之前参加营地的次数和营地位置的影响。研究结果表明，参加“归属营”项目可能会减少兄弟姐妹之间的冲突，并且对于之前接触过该营地项目的青少年，兄弟姐妹之间的支持有所改善。兄弟姐妹支持结果在营地层面的差异凸显了因寄养而分离的兄弟姐妹关系的复杂性，并表明需要进行更多研究。讨论了从这个多地点评估中吸取的经验教训和未来方向。
