Displaying 81 - 90 of 177
Abstract: Adoption is arguably the most powerful intervention available for children in foster care who are unable to be restored to their birth families. Adoption promises stability and a family for life, in contrast to foster care or guardianship, which are expected to end when the child reaches adulthood. In comparison to foster care, adoption is associated with better educational, financial, and social outcomes. However, because children adopted out of foster care have had adverse experiences, they may have additional support needs in later years. These unknown costs…
The rate at which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are being removed from their families is an escalating national crisis. The Family Matters Report 2018, which is being released at the Healing Our Spirit Worldwide Conference in Sydney today, finds that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are now 10.1 times more likely to be removed from their families than non-Indigenous children. And the rate is projected to triple in the next twenty years if urgent action is not taken.
Fewer than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are…
Abstract:
Background: Support to maintain important family relationships is seen as a right for children in permanent care in Australia. In New South Wales, newly legislated permanency principles prioritise open adoption over long-term foster care and require plans for ongoing, face-to-face (known as direct) birth family contact for children in permanent placements. Countries with similar child welfare systems do not place the same emphasis on contact after permanent removal and it is especially uncommon to see direct contact given priority in open adoption.…
Abstract
Despite the increasing use of adoption to provide permanence for children living in out-of-home care, relatively little is known about the children involved. This paper presents findings on the previous life experiences of an entire cohort of ‘difficult to place’ adoptees who were placed in Australia over 26 years. Understanding the vulnerability of these children is important for practitioners supporting adoptive families, as well as policy-makers and researchers who are assessing the outcomes of adoption from care.
The study describes a group of children who have experiences…
Abstract
This is an exploratory study focused on open adoptions from foster care conducted through the public child protection agency in New South Wales, Australia. The results from an online survey completed by 23 respondents indicated that most of the adoptees were reportedly in the normative range of adjustment, had positive relationships with their adoptive parents and had ongoing contact with their birth families. Most of the adoptive parents had received pre-adoption supports to encourage post-adoption contact. These preliminary results are encouraging, but larger and preferably…
Abstract
With the rising numbers of children in need of out-of-home care, child protection services look to foster and kin carers to play a leading role in the lives of children unable to live with their birth families. The current study examined placement, carer, and child characteristics related to perceived foster parent stress in a sample of 158 foster and kin carers in Queensland, Australia. Carers completed a self-report online survey that assessed parenting stress, and carer perceptions of the child in their care and the child protection system. Overall, foster…
Abstract
This paper discusses two key strategies detailing how “relationship-focused” and “trauma-informed” intervention practices, which form the basis of an Australian therapeutic program called Treatment and Care for Kids (TrACK), made a difference in the lives of highly traumatised children. The TrACK program fosters highly traumatised children who, due to the complexity of their trauma needs, cannot be placed in traditional generalist foster care. Case files of 48 children were reviewed. Children were either current or former clients over a period of 18 years since the program…
Abstract
The question in the title is addressed by exploring the challenges inherent in providing care for children who are unable to live with their birth families. It is argued that failure to interrogate the assumptions underlying traditional foster care and take account of changes in family structure and socioeconomic circumstances has created a situation in which children in care and their care givers are being set up to fail. Changes needed to address this are outlined.
Abstract
Approximately 48,000 children in Australia are living in out-of-home care (OOHC). While there are many different reasons why children are placed in OOHC most children who have been removed from their parental home have a range of complex needs and challenges. One of those challenges is the significant level of educational disadvantage they experience. This review assesses the literature that describes the risk and protective factors for children on OOHC experiencing educational disadvantage. It describes evidence-based interventions that improve educational outcomes for children…
Abstract
With growing concerns about the efficacy and costs of intrusive child protection interventions and increasing recognition of citizen rights to participation in governance, jurisdictions are looking to collaborative alternatives that divert families from the courts and out‐of‐home care. In Queensland (Australia), “intervention with parental agreement” (IPA) is one such response. Under IPA, the statutory child protection authority can work collaboratively with families, without a court order, to respond to children assessed as “in need of protection.” In this paper, we use…