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The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter, Indigenous) children in Australian child protection and out-of-home care systems is not a new phenomenon. While there are growing concerns over a second Stolen Generations, this perspective article highlights the continuity of overrepresentation, and systemic racism, in Australian child protection and out-of-home care systems over time.
In highlighting the continuities between past and present child welfare practices, this article demonstrates that systemic racism is an ongoing feature of Australian child…
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…
Executive Summary:
This research sought to improve understanding of the experiences of parents with disability of Australian child protection systems, paying particular attention to the experiences of First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse parents with disability. It addressed the following questions:
- What are the experiences of parents with disability across the spectrum of engagement with child protection systems from initial reports of child protection concerns to out-of-home care (‘OOHC’) and restoration or permanent removal?
- How do child…
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.
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…
This report, which was authored by Taylor Fry with support from Their Futures Matter (TFM) - a landmark reform of the Government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia to deliver improved outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and their families - and stakeholder agencies, presents key results and insights from the TFM Investment Model, an actuarial model of future outcomes and costs of providing key government services to children and young people in NSW.
The purpose of the report is to define groups of vulnerable children and young people and highlight the poor social outcomes…
Abstract
In this chapter from the book Re-Visioning Public Health Approaches for Protecting Children we critically examine the practical and organisational issues as well as the ideational and procedural ones that challenge policy makers, leaders and those delivering services as they attempt to re-focus child protection service delivery toward earlier intervention and prevention within a public health framework. Combining the knowledge we have gained in practice-led research and policy development, we highlight the challenges we have witnessed as…
Abstract
The article presents the findings of an international literature review conducted to examine the factors that drive inter‐country adoption rates within both sending and receiving countries. The authors then consider the implications of these findings for inter‐country adoption policy reform in Australia. The evidence in the literature highlights a distinction between the factors that drive ICA in sending and receiving countries. Factors that drive the practice in sending countries relate to structural forms such as socio‐economic and political conditions. In contrast, it is the…
This research report reviews the child protection and adoption policies in Australia and the long-term plan of the New South Wales (NSW) government "to restructure the operation of the child protection system to increase sustainability and improve performance by achieving permanency for more children." The report presents the three primary elements of the plan ("The Safe Homes for Life," "Their Futures Matter," and the ‘Permanency Support Program) and assesses these elements. "The national significance of the NSW reforms cannot be overstated," reads the report. "The changes to child…
Executive Summary
This project emerged in response to growing disquiet in Tasmania about the experiences of a cohort of highly vulnerable teens (aged 10-17 years) whose needs for care have fallen outside of families, between government agencies and between non-government services. This is a cohort of young people who concurrently experience lifetime trajectories of cumulative harm, repeat homelessness, limited education, contact with police and youth justice, and repeat child protection notifications.
Importantly, this is a cohort not on Care and Protection Orders and…