This article reports the results of an exploratory cross-national study of how the staff of Children's Homes help to maintain parent/child connectedness and what they allow parents to do for their children while they are in out-of-home care. The data were gathered from three Children's Homes in the US and one in South Africa. This cross-national comparison is a rare, if not unique, example of
... [Show full abstract] this type of study. Discussion of the findings from this study includes consideration of possible language and cultural factors influencing the results and highlights some of the challenges in doing cross-national studies that include countries with very different educational and literacy levels. Finally the paper indicates what efforts have been made by the South African Home to respond to the findings and in so doing illustrates the value of comparative research for improved intervention.
