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In Australia, there are more than 46,000 children in out-of-home care (OOHC). Most of these children have been in OOHC for more than 2 years. Similarly, there are more than 407,000 children in the United States and over 80,800 in England who are ‘looked after’ with approximately one third of these children being in OOHC for more than 2 years.
This paper concerns ‘looked after’ children's rights to contact with their birth parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requires child protection systems to recognize the rights of children to maintain contact with…
Abstract
The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection is a serious concern in Australia. A proportion of this group of children may have been removed from families who are providing an adequately safe and nurturing environment, reflecting false positive errors in decision making. Assuming this to be true, we draw on the decision-making ecology model of judgement and decision making in child protection to speculate on possible causes of such errors. This model suggests that false positive errors would occur if the level of risk children…
INTRODUCTION
Decisions in the child protection context take place in a complex environment influenced by individual decision-makers, institutional resources and practices, demographic inequalities, and family responses. While some variation in decision outcomes are inevitable and desirable in order to respond to unique family and whānau contexts, the principles, logics and resources informing such decisions should be consistent. Where they differ too much, families in similar situations receive different responses, contributing to inequities and inconsistencies in decision outcomes. Both…
Abstract
Across Australia and internationally, growing numbers of grandparents are becoming primary carers for grandchildren, both within and outside of formal state care arrangements. Underlying factors include family breakdown, family circumstances where parents are unable to care for their children, or where there are child safety concerns. Some grandparents report a pattern of initially providing care for grandchildren but then experiencing reduced or lost contact that sometimes is not restored, in turn impacting ongoing relationships with grandchildren. A prevailing concern is the…
This article examines the Stand By Me (SBM) programme, which was developed in Victoria to replicate the ongoing support provided in the UK to care leavers by Personal Advisers who remain available to assist young people until 21 years of age. According to this article, evaluation of the SBM programme has shown that ongoing, holistic support, including housing support, has assisted 12 young people through the SBM pilot to access stable housing, address multiple and complex issues, and form trusting relationships with SBM workers that contribute to positive outcomes.
This article is part of a special edition of the journal Psychosocial Intervention (Volume 22 No.03 December 2013) focused on the state of child protection in a wide variety of countries with special attention to out-of-home care placements, principally family foster care and residential care, tough several aspects related to adoption were included as well.
This article provides an outline of the early development of care and protection in Australia and New Zealand as a…
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…
The Tasmanian government has committed to reforming the state's child protection system, including investments in prevention and early intervention services, hiring additional staff and streamlining the reporting process.