The Circle Program: Therapeutic Foster Care Model

Background of The Circle Program
This research proposal will revolve around the Circle Program. This program is based on a therapeutic foster care model. It provides foster carers and their children support through a specialist team and trains foster carers to understand how trauma effects foster children (MacKillop Family Services n.d.). This type of foster care model supports youth work practice through having similar principles to the YACVic Code of Ethical Practice. Two principles of the YACVic Code of Ethical practice that The Circle Program are in line with is the empowerment of all young people and the safety of young people (YACVic 2007). The program does these through teaching foster carers how to be support their foster child as
Riet et al (2001) explains that qualitative research is needed to help create programs and systems that meet their aim and have a good insight into client needs. Quantitative research is important because it can be easily pre-structured, this means through surveys and forms many people can be reached in a short period of time (Brannen 2017). This research proposal will use qualitative research by creating focus groups in two different areas of Victoria, both in Geelong one with young people who have been involved in the program and the other with providers of the Circle Program in Geelong. The focus group involving young people who have previously been involved in the program will aim to find areas in which the program can improve by starting a discussion around a question such as ‘do you feel you received adequate support for your individual circumstances in the circle program’. When discussing focus groups Kreuger and Casey (2014) explain that the chance to explain who will benefit from the study, the chance to communicate with others and the chance to see both sides of any issue are important in improving
foster carers and foster children as well as support services of the program e.g. trainers and helpline assistants. Questions in the survey for foster carers will centre around defining whether the foster carer received enough support and information prior and during having foster children. Questions for foster children will centre around learning whether they received enough support for their foster carers and other support services whilst in out of home care. Questions for trainers will be made to determine if the conditions required to properly inform foster carers were met. Mathers, Fox and Hunn (2007) Support the use of surveys for research, suggesting they are flexible, easy to distribute and can cover a wide range of topics. When surveying and using focus groups to gain information on how the Circle Program is running and can best be improved ethical standards must be considered. One ethical standard and youth work practice responsibility this research proposal will consider is Boundaries (YACVic 2007). As many young people in the Circle Program are at risk and/or settling in to new environments no research will be undertaken in their setting. As well as this another ethical consideration relation to boundaries will be to ask appropriate questions and in the case of surveys not ask for names. By doing this the research program does not