Support Foster Care: developing a short-break service for children in need

Under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, local authorities can provide short breaks for children with foster or other families. The majority of such placements are used to support the families of disabled children, but they may also be used in other circumstances. Support foster care schemes aim to work with families who are experiencing difficulties or stress by providing short breaks for children and support for parents. Such schemes have been slow to develop, and the Department of Health commissioned the Thomas Coram Research Unit to carry out a small-scale study to find out more about the barriers, legal and otherwise, that might be deterring local authorities from establishing support care schemes, and how such barriers might be overcome. This report summarises the findings

Exploring Gypsy and Travellers’ Perceptions of Health and Social Care Careers: Barriers and Solutions to Recruitment, Training and Retention of Social Care Students

This report was commissioned by the Aimhigher South East Healthcare Strand, which is actively concerned with raising the aspirations and awareness of careers and progression routes into and within the Health and Social Care sectors. There is an accepted requirement to raise the numbers of young people going into these sectors through higher education routes and an imperative to diversify the workforce itself to reflect the population it serves. Young people from Gypsy & Traveller backgrounds are less likely to progress to non compulsory education and thus less likely to work in these sectors. The objective of this research has been to raise the profile of these issues, identify the barriers to progression that exist for these groups and to begin to examine ways in which barriers can be overcome. We are most grateful to Dr Greenfields for the energy and commitment she has shown in undertaking this work, and I hope that readers find the report illuminating and helpful when actively engaging with the young people involved

Working with, not working on: the theory and practice of collaborative community research programmes.

Greenfields, M – UNISA conference – Pretoria South Africa, March 11-15th, 2013 This paper sets out to engage with both the ethical and practical aspects of undertaking participatory action research in collaboration with marginalised populations or members of communities who operate within a differential power structure from members of the academy, who be definition are privileged holders of intellectual, social and cultural capital, and potentially, (when academic power manifests as public upholding of dominant knowledge structures), complicit with social inequality (Bourdieu, 1998). My presentation is underpinned by an exposition on the philosophy and methodologies utilised in key research projects on which I have worked. The examples I will present pertain to studies which have explicitly sought to utilise participatory methods as a way of increasing the skills base of research partners (i.e. Gypsies/Traveller and Roma and asylum seeking women from Africa and the Middle-East) whilst ideologically rejecting methodological practices which seek to impose mainstream categories and assumptions on marginalised or excluded peoples (Pollner & Rosenfeld, 2000)

Working ‘with’ not working ‘on’: the theory and practice of collaborative community research programmes

UNISA presentation March 2013 To consider philosophical and political background to collaborative research • Examine the types of ‘partnership’ and ‘participatory’ research which exist • Consider why they may be appropriate for ‘hard to reach’ groups •Explore examples from funded research with Refugee Women and Gypsies/Traveller/Roma • Challenges and Benefits to using PAR/Collaborative Research • PAR and the Institutional setting – forward planning for succes

Good practice in working with Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities

This article highlights important literature and good practice relevant to healthcare professionals working with and supporting Gypsy, Traveller and Roma populations in the UK. Members of these minority ethnic communities are often seen as ‘hard to reach’. Healthcare practitioners frequently identify that mutual gaps in cultural competence and knowledge exist, which can affect ways of working with these populations, leaving service users and professionals baffled and upset, with negative effects on health. By exploring the effects of social determinants of health on these groups and focusing on ways of improving communication and tailored access to services, it is possible to develop effective ways of supporting vulnerable individuals and communities while building trust, enhancing communication and increasing health literacy among potentially ‘at risk’ people

Impact of insecure accommodation and the living environment on Gypsies’ and Travellers’ health

Gypsies and Travellers experience some of the poorest health outcomes of any group in society. Accommodation insecurity, the conditions of their living environment, community participation and discrimination all play key roles in exacerbating these poor health outcomes, while at the same time these factors also hold the key to effectively addressing and improving the health and wellbeing of these communities. Long-term, joined-up working is urgently required at both local and national level to address the wider social determinants of Gypsies and Travellers health. This report was commissioned by the Department of Health to inform the work of the National Inclusion Health Board

Report of a Roundtable Meeting on Access to Higher Education for members of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) communities.

This roundtable was an opportunity for experts to share their lived experience of the challenges facing Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) and other travelling communities entering into Higher Education. It was well-recognised that GTR communities have the worst outcomes of any ethnic grouping in terms of health, housing, and education. These communities also continue to face significant levels of racism and prejudice both in society and from official institutions and agencies. Access to higher education offers a way through these injustices

Gypsies, Travellers and accommodation

Gypsies and Travellers are one of the most marginalised, vulnerable and socially excluded populations in the UK today (CRE, 2006, p. 1). Of the diverse travelling communities in the UK, only Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are currently recognised in law as minority ethnic communities (Clark and Greenfields, 2006). Estimates of the size of the Gypsy and Traveller population (including Scottish Gypsy-Travellers, Welsh Gypsies and New Travellers) are problematic in the absence of ethnic monitoring, administrative statistics or their inclusion within census categories. In 2000, it was calculated that there were approximately 300,000 members of these communities in the UK (Morris and Clements, 2002). With a high rate of population increase, estimated at 3 per cent per annum (Niner, 2003), the community is growing and in need of appropriate accommodation to meet its requirements

Resisting assimilation: survival and adaptation to 'alien' accomodation forms: The case of British Gypsy/Travellers in housing

This paper consists of discussion of findings from a series of empirical studies conducted in London and southern England. A central concern of these studies was to explore the collective responses and adaptations of Gypsies and Travellers to post-war (1945) government legislation which has aimed to eradicate nomadic lifestyles and in so doing, to settle and assimilate this group into the general population. Despite these policy objectives Gypsies and Travellers through utilising forms of cultural resilience have resisted enormous pressures to assimilate, managing to live within a wider culture while rejecting its values and social institutions and recreating traditional collective lifestyles (as far as possible) within 'bricks and mortar' accommodation. The authors outline contemporary forms of resistance to assimilation and, by drawing on qualitative and ethnographic data, demonstrate how relations between the state and Gypsies and Travellers is characterised by a cyclical relationship of domination, resistance and resilience. As legislation is enacted to restrict the mobility of Gypsies and Travellers and 'settle' them, so these groups develop innovative startegies to evade or minimise the impact of legislation, thus instigating a new phase of policy development. Cultural resilience in this context therefore encompasses active resistance to externally imposed changes that are perceived as antithetical to traditional lifestyles. Drawing on Acton's (1974) typology of adaptive strategies the authors illustrate how recourse to culturally grounded strategies of resistance has allowed Gypsies and Travellers to maintain a sense of social cohesion and group identity, which assists in minimising the more damaging impacts of legislation

Cambridge sub-region traveller needs assessment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This project assesses service needs for Gypsies and Travellers in the Cambridge area. The area covered was the Cambridge sub-region, comprising Cambridge City, East Cambs, Fenland, Forest Heath (Suffolk), Huntingdonshire, St. Edmundsbury (Suffolk) and South Cambs, with the addition of Peterborough (unitary district) and King’s Lynn & West Norfolk (Norfolk). The study was commissioned by Cambridgeshire County Council on behalf of a consortium of these public authorities. It also provides an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers ‘residing in or resorting to their district’ (GTAA), as required under the Housing Act 2004 and following ODPM guidance (2006). 2. The main quantitative data sources were the findings of an interview survey of 313 Gypsies/Travellers within the study area (on sites of all types and in housing) undertaken in 2005, the official six-monthly counts of caravans since 1980, and local school rolls data. 3. The Gypsy/Traveller population of the study area (including those in housing) was estimated at 6500-7000, making them one of its largest ethnic minority groups. Survey respondents were asked to self-identify within six categories: English Gypsies/Romanies, Irish Travellers, new Traveller, Scottish Traveller-Gypsy, Showman and Other. Most English Gypsies in the study area were ‘born and bred’ within the region, and the survey found a quarter of the Gypsy/Traveller population to be Irish Travellers. Anglia Ruskin University & Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College for Cambridge County Council