Caring about attachment in young people in residential care: the use of the attachment style interview. Report of a voluntary sector and university partnership

Social workers and other practitioners in child and family work are only too aware of attachment problems presented by children and young people in care, but have limited assessment tools or evidence-based models available for managing and charting change. A partnership between St Christopher’s Fellowship (SCF) and the Lifespan Research Group, Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, Middlesex University (Previously Kingston), was established in 2006 in order to help implement attachment-based working for young people in residential care. This article will describe how a new model, using an attachment-based assessment interview, and training care workers in attachment principles is impacting on the practice of residential care workers for the benefit of vulnerable young people.