Displaying 1 - 10 of 72
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 Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort (Our Children Our Heart) project conducted extensive Elder and community consultation to develop principles and practice recommendations for child protection governance in Western Australia. We explore these principles and practice recommendations and highlight the need for culturally safe community consultation and governance with a focus on repairing damage incurred by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community from past child protection policies. We argue that using principles of responsive regulation and the inclusion of Elder voices…
Abstract
This policy analysis examines the impact of COVID-19 policy guidance on the role of workers who provide outreach to transition-age care leavers. The comparison focuses on four countries (US, England, Canada, Australia) and addresses the question: How do policy changes impact street-level bureaucracy (SLB) discretion, activities, resources, and constraints? A review of policy guidance identifies similar actions across the four countries focused on: public health measures, extension and flexibility of services, prioritization of cases, and enhanced use of technology. Extension and…
The purpose of this research was to examine the overlap between the Youth Justice (YJ) and the Child Protection (CP) systems in Australia, and profile selected characteristics of children and young people who have YJ and CP system involvement. In this report, young people born between 1991 and 1998 were included since they had data for their entire YJ eligibility period, from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2016. Young people born between 1991 and 1998 also had CP notifications, investigations, substantiations, orders and out-of-home care (OOHC) placement data for their entire CP eligibility…
Abstract
The rate of Indigenous child removal in Australia has been referred to as an epidemic. With numbers predicted to increase in the near to medium future exploring alternative ways to engage Indigenous children and families is critical. This article outlines the views of Indigenous practitioners collected as part of a doctoral study exploring the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners who undertake child protection work in Australia. Practitioner narratives were elicited by way of qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews. The narratives of…
Abstract
This paper explores the efficacy of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Convention, UN General Assembly, 1989) through the lens of the over-representation of First Nations children placed in out-of-home care in Canada and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia. A general overview of Indigenous worldviews frames a discussion on the coherence of international human rights law and instruments, including the Convention, account for Indigenous Peoples’ ontologies. The authors argue that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of…
Australian Indigenous Advocates have long sought the passage of Indigenous child-welfare legislation similar to the United States’s Indian Child Welfare Act. Recently, the Australian government has indicated it is receptive to the enactment of such legislation. However, an Australian version of the ICWA is not as simple as it sounds. The legal status of the Indigenous communities of Australia and American Indian tribes is vastly different thus, many of the ICWA’s provisions, particularly those based on a recognition of Indigenous sovereignty, would require significant modifications before…
Abstract
Repeat removals, where parents lose successive infants and children to out-of-home care, is a systems problem requiring a systems approach to broaden our thinking and expand our choices for action. A transdisciplinary group of key stakeholders in Australia jointly constructed a causal loop diagram to bring forth the systemic structure underlying the issue and identify system conditions that need to be altered. Analysis of the causal loop diagram surfaced eight dynamic positive feedback loops which result in a self-reinforcing system. While the model reflects the understanding of a…
Living in unstable long-term government-supported ‘out-of-home’ care (OOHC) is causing harmful and often lifelong impacts for increasing numbers of Australian children. There is a growing awareness that all children need stable homes and families to thrive. This has led to policymakers facing mounting calls from adoption advocates (myself included) to increase the number of ‘open adoptions’* from out of care in Australia.
The difficulties in giving more children safe and permanent homes through adoption led the Federal Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs to…
Our Way outlines a framework for transformational change that will occur over the next 20 years, representing a long-term commitment by government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to work together to improve the life outcomes of vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
This is the first jurisdiction in Australia where government has worked with Family Matters to develop a shared strategy to ensure all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in Queensland grow up safe and cared for in family, community and…