In their care of children and young people, foster carers report experiencing social isolation and a lack of support. This study examines the social network experiences of Australian foster carers who are members of Mockingbird Family. While well established in the United States and United Kingdom, Mockingbird Family was introduced to Australia offering a new approach to address the unique challenges of foster caring for vulnerable children and young people. The model geographically networks 6–10 foster care households in a ‘constellation’ with a central ‘hub home provider’ tasked with providing information, support, and respite care. This study employed a cross-sectional explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to investigate social connections and supports in the first four Australian Mockingbird Family constellations. A social network tool was used to survey participants ( n = 27) and two focus groups ( n = 20) to gather their experiences. Analysis found the highest mean social network connections with people from within their own Mockingbird Family constellations. Three measures of centrality were used indegree, betweenness and closeness, to report the connections and role of members within each constellation. Comparing constellations at different stages of maturity, the hub home provider was consistently ranked with high betweenness centrality as the bridge. In the longer-running constellations, the hub home provider was ranked with high indegree centrality or the primary source of advice or expert support. This indicated micro-network evolution that may potentially result in reduced reliance on statutory and other formal system supports over time. Changes to micro-dynamics in social support within constellations were explained qualitatively through three themes: leadership and expertise, information diffusion and communication, and trust and familiarity. Mockingbird Family was found to provide social connections and support networks amongst foster carers, indicating the model’s capacity to strengthen supports to carers thereby strengthening the immediate environment of children and young people in care.

中文翻译：

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探索寄养中的社交网络：澳大利亚的知更鸟家族

寄养者表示，在照顾儿童和青少年时，他们经历了社会孤立和缺乏支持。这项研究调查了澳大利亚知更鸟家庭成员寄养者的社交网络体验。虽然 Mockingbird Family 在美国和英国已经很成熟，但它被引入澳大利亚，提供了一种新方法来解决弱势儿童和青少年寄养所面临的独特挑战。该模式在地理上将 6-10 个寄养家庭组成一个“星座”，并由一个中央“中心家庭提供者”负责提供信息、支持和临时护理。本研究采用横断面解释性顺序混合方法来调查澳大利亚知更鸟家族前四个星座的社会联系和支持。使用社交网络工具对参与者 (n = 27) 和两个焦点小组 (n = 20) 进行调查，以收集他们的经验。分析发现，与来自同一知更鸟家族星座的人的平均社交网络联系最高。使用度、介数和接近度三种中心性度量来报告每个星座内成员的联系和角色。比较不同成熟阶段的星座，枢纽住宅提供商始终以较高的介数中心性作为桥梁。在长期运行的星座中，中心家庭提供商的排名具有高度中心性或建议或专家支持的主要来源。这表明微网络的演变可能会随着时间的推移减少对法定和其他正式系统支持的依赖。通过三个主题定性地解释了星座内社会支持微观动态的变化：领导力和专业知识、信息传播和沟通以及信任和熟悉度。研究发现，知更鸟家庭在寄养照顾者之间提供了社会联系和支持网络，这表明该模式有能力加强对照顾者的支持，从而改善被照顾的儿童和青少年的直接环境。