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Bethan Carter, a research associate at Cardiff University, discusses the ReThink Project; a project run in collaboration with Adoption UK and Coram Voice to investigate what processes are linked to mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced young people and how they manage at two key transitions in life.
Find out more about the conference series 'On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health' here: https://www.exchangewales.org/on-the-journey-navigating-mental-health/
Abstract
Background
The mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people remains a concern. Despite a range of interventions, the existing evidence base is limited in scope, with a reliance on standalone outcome evaluations which limits understanding of how contextual factors influence implementation and acceptability. The care-experienced children and young people’s interventions to improve mental health and well-being outcomes systematic review (CHIMES) aimed to synthesise evidence of intervention theory, outcome, process and economic effectiveness. This…
Abstract:
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC), often called care leavers, are known to experience mental health challenges. This article presents a scoping review of research studies completed on the mental health care needs and outcomes of care leavers in Australia from 2015 to 2021. Incorporating 17 studies consisting of six peer-reviewed papers and 11 grey literature reports, the review identified several common concerns pertaining to high levels of poor mental health and psychosocial complexity.
These concerns were attributed to a number of factors…
Abstract
Background
There is an identified need to improve the evidence-base in relation to contact visits for children in the out-of-home-care (OOHC) system, to ensure optimal outcomes.
Objective
The aim of this cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to test the effectiveness of a contact intervention for parents having supervised contact with children in long-term OOHC.
Participants
183 study children in 15 clusters (OOHC services) and their parent(s) were randomized to the intervention (8 clusters, 100 children) and control groups (7 clusters, 83 children) in three…
Abstract
This article documents my experiences with the state’s contemporary removal of Aboriginal children in Western Australia (WA) and the practice of Aboriginal Family Led Decision Making (AFLDM), a family led decision making process supported as best practice for Aboriginal families. Unfortunately, this practice of AFLDM is not implemented in the state of Western Australia, but is adopted in Victoria, New South Wales, and more recently Queensland. AFLDM is supported by the peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care — the Secretariat for National Aboriginal…
ABSTRACT
Therapeutic residential care (TRC) privileges healing from trauma for vulnerable children and young people. It presents an opportunity for staff to partner with families to overcome trauma-induced conflicts and separations and build positive, resilient relationships. Co-parenting of residents by staff and parents can become possible. Positive impacts of effective family partnering in residential care generally, and within TRC specifically, are affirmed by international evidence. Family partnering in TRC has not, however, been formally researched in Australia. This preliminary…
‘Children Safe, Family Together', the new family and kin care model outlined in this paper forms an integral part of the overall strategy being currently implemented by Territory Families (TF) to transform Out-of-Home Care in the Northern Territory (NT). The strategy addresses worrying trend data pointing to the significant over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the NT child protection system. The strategy also seeks to reinforce the voices of Aboriginal organisations and communities for the Out-of-Home Care sector (OOHC) in the NT to honour the…
As the keynote speaker at the Family Inclusion Network South East Queensland’s Global Day of Parents Forum on Tuesday, 4th June, sociologist David Tobis told the story of how parents worked with allies in New York City for over twenty years to bring about dramatic change to the child protection system. This article describes the keynote address and the story of the parents and allies who changed the child protection system in New York City.
Positive Powerful Parents (PPP) is a self advocacy group in Australia run by and for parents with an intellectual disability. PPP are currently running the Hand In Hand project which seeks to educate government and the community about the needs of families where a parent has an intellectual disability.
The Hand In Hand Parent Meeting was held in Melbourne on the 19th of September 2018. This meeting aimed to capture the authentic voices of parents with intellectual disability about their experiences with the services and supports available to them to support their parenting. This…
ABSTRACT
Parents with intellectual disability are overrepresented in child protection matters due to a combination of socioeconomic disadvantage and assumptions of parenting incapacity by child welfare workers and courts. Inability to understand the investigation process or instruct a solicitor can deny these parents equal access to justice. Specialist support can ensure parents exercise their legal capacity to participate in proceedings and have their views heard. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with parents with intellectual disability (n = 10) who accessed…