After All These Years: Accessing Care Records

While there has been a growing body of research into the experiences of adopted people who approach agencies seeking information or contact with birth relatives, little is known about those formerly in care who access agency records. The findings here, reported by Derek Kirton, Erica Peltier and Elizabeth Webb, derive from a file analysis relating to adults previously in the care of The Children's Society who had sought access to their care records. The aim of the study was to find out more about the care careers of this group and their reasons for contacting the Society. By comparison with their adopted counterparts, those formerly in care tend to access records later in life and are more evenly balanced in terms of gender. The analysis revealed widely divergent careers in care for black and white enquirers respectively, with the former spending longer in care and being much less likely to be in contact, or reunited with their birth families. Implications for practice are then discussed, especially the need to develop post-care services which can help to meet the longer-term identity needs of adults formerly in care.

尽管对寻求信息或与出生亲戚接触的机构的经验进行了越来越多的研究，但对于那些以前从事护理的人访问机构记录的人几乎不知道。德里克·基尔顿（Derek Kirton），埃里卡·佩尔蒂尔（Erica Peltier）和伊丽莎白·韦伯（Elizabeth Webb）的报道，此处的发现源自与成年人有关的文件分析，以前是在寻求访问其护理记录的儿童社会的护理中。该研究的目的是了解有关该小组的护理职业及其与社会联系的原因。通过与他们所采用的同行相比，那些以前从事护理的人倾向于在以后的生活中访问记录，并且在性别方面更加平衡。该分析显示，分别对黑人和白人询问者的照料分别有分歧，前者花费更长的时间在护理中，接触的可能性较小，或与他们的出生家庭团聚。然后讨论对实践的影响，尤其是开发后护理服务的需要，这可以帮助满足以前护理的成年人的长期身份需求。