奥井（高橋） 菜穂子

This qualitative study was performed to examine residential child care workers' interpretations of their roles in collaboration with child welfare centers and children's schools, and to examine workers' difficulties in cooperation with other agencies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 8 Children's home workers. The data showed that workers feel that their role is to act as mediators of social resources and the child, and that it is their responsibility to ensure soft and flexible communication between social resources compared with social workers or teachers. The workers are skilled in supporting children in their transitions between different settings and services. On the other hand, workers sometimes feel a lack of shared information and tension between other agencies. In such situations, they draw lines of their responsibilities on child protection and try to exclude communication with other agencies. Collaboration with other agencies requires that workers build a foundation of close communication with others and can work effectively across boundaries to support children.

The aim of this study is to describe a caretaker's perspectives toward her own support practices from bottom-up processes. This study uses interview data with a female caretaker at the Children's Home that were analyzed using KJ-method. Her narratives were classified into three groups，"perspectives of children's families"，"daily practices in the Children' s Home"，and "perspectives of children's lives after they leave the Children's Home". It became possible to observe these perspectives from both aspects : actual narratives supported by the caretaker's long-time experiences and the overall views of the home's practices by piling up texts of diff erent phases. She consistently appealed to the importance of linkage between the Children's Home and the region where the children will work as member of society after leaving there. However she was unclear in her narratives concerning a concrete way to make a linkage like that and this shows her difficulties in daily practices connecting with other support resources. Further，it is discussed that to make a vertical linkage，it is useful also to make a horizontal knot，to mainly focus on the collaborative performances.