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ABSTRACT
This chapter from the Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy examines how permanency for children is achieved in New Zealand in the child protection context. The permanent removal of Maori children from their families and extended family groups, including placement for adoption, has been a profound issue for Maori. The concern for Maori about the numbers of children being taken into care was a driver for the July 2019 amendments. Unlike other jurisdictions (such as England and the US), adoption of children in permanency cases has generally not been followed in New Zealand…
Abstract
This article investigates the colonialist definitions of the terms “orphan” and “adoption”, contrasting them with how the traditional practice of child circulation in Fiji cared for orphaned children. I examine whether the terms “orphan”, “adoption” or “informal adoption” are equal to (or even appropriate) when describing child circulation practices in Fiji, and whether these terms and practice have had an effect on the status of the child with these labels within their own community.
Abstract
This article reviews developments in the NSW child protection system which aim to reduce the number of children in state care. The first development was changes to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1988 made in 2016 that created a permanency hierarchy for children who have been removed and not restored to parental or extended family care. Under Section 10A of the Act, guardianship and adoption becomes the priority if restoration is not possible, although Aboriginal children are exempt from adoption to some extent. The more recent development, during 2017, is…
Abstract
Across the English-speaking world, child protection authorities are increasingly placing children with extended family rather than in foster care or residential care. Many more children are in such arrangements informally. A number of surveys of kinship carers have been conducted in recent years in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This paper systematically reviews these surveys to identify messages for policy and practice about the characteristics and support needs of kinship care families. Some comparisons are made with population studies of kinship…
This webinar presentation by Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne was given at a UNICEF Seminar on the 1 April 2014. Professor Connolly began by introducing the history and background of Family Group Conference (FGC) in New Zealand, which was developed initially in the late 1980s as a culturally responsive way of diverting children and their families from the court system. It has since become a key decision-making mechanism for both care and protection and youth justice systems. FGC was later…
Leverhulme International Network on New Families, New Governance 3rd Workshop, University of Notre Dame, USA 27-28 March 2014
In this presentation Professor Connolly reviews recent trends in the use of kinship care in Australia, and highlights that although kinship care has always been a major part of children’s care systems, there has been an important shift over the past twenty years toward the use of extended family systems to support and care for vulnerable children. In 2010, statutory kinship care…
This manual offers a training session targeted at policy makers, professionals and paraprofessionals who are already working on programs to support children without appropriate care, or who may begin work in this area. It is designed as the first stage in a series of capacity building events which will support the development and implementation of improved care and protection systems for vulnerable children.
This workshop focuses on children in developing contexts, who require support within their families and those who need an alternative care placement. It does not address children on…