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Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Community Health Centres are a crucial part of the Victorian primary health care system, providing a holistic health and welfare model of services to meet local needs. Banyule Community Health has over 40 years’ experience working with vulnerable groups and families. A pilot project in 2016 aiming to improve health care access for children in out-of-home care (OOHC) identified significant systems issues. The process was complex and systems were not supporting the needs of the children or enabling the best use of health workers’ time or skills.
POLICY CONTEXT AND…
Abstract
Children and young people living in residential care are vulnerable to sexual abuse, and there is scant evidence about what sexuality education could help address this vulnerability. This paper explores the impact of the Power to Kids: Respecting Sexual Safety programme, which involved capacity‐building workers to have ‘brave conversations’ with children and young people in residential care. The aim of the study was to capture the perceptions of workers about changes in their skill and confidence levels in relation to having brave conversations with children and…
ABSTRACT
Objective
The Home Parenting Education and Support (HoPES) programme is a new intensive 8-week home-visiting intervention supporting the preservation and reunification of families with young children (aged 0–4 years) receiving child protection services following child abuse and/or neglect in Australia. The aims of the study were to (a) describe families who had participated in HoPES, (b) describe the key education content and support activities of the programme, and (c) identify the enablers and challenges in implementing HoPES.
Background
Intensive home-based family…
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…
This is the final report of the evaluation of the Salvation Army Westcare Continuing Care Program, which was based in Melbourne’s Western Metropolitan Region from 2013-19. The program aimed to provide relationship-based support to assist the planning, preparation and support needs of young people during their transition from out-of-home care (OOHC) to independent living.
Abstract
The Circle of Security-Parent DVD program (COS-P) is a widely used parenting intervention that is gaining popularity globally as it is currently being delivered across several continents. Despite the uptake of COS-P, there is limited research on its effectiveness for specific groups. Here we present a multi-site evaluation of a group delivery of the eight-week COS-P program to foster carers (n = 54) of 6-12 year-old children in an urban community as facilitated by community-based providers from a specialist child and youth mental health services (n = 2). Three measures, the Parent…
Abstract
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (generally called care leavers) are recognised globally as a vulnerable group. In the last eighteen months, four Australian jurisdictions have extended state care till twenty-one years in an attempt to advance the life opportunities of this cohort. These initiatives are strongly influenced by extended care programmes in the USA and England, which have reported improved outcomes for care leavers. This article interrogates formal public evaluations of these extended care programmes with a particular focus on their eligibility criteria…
Abstract
Although there is a growing body of international work on barriers to engaging fathers in child and family services, there is limited research on factors that promote father engagement. In this article, we draw on case study data from the Australian Baby Makes 3 (BM3) programme to explore factors that promote father engagement in parenting support programmes. Our analysis shows single‐gender group work supported father engagement. BM3's father group work provided a safe space in the parenting support context where men could form intimate connections with other fathers and talk…
Abstract: In this article, Patricia O'Rourke describes the way in which she applies psychodrama in her therapeutic reunification work with parents and babies in the child protection system in Australia. The paper was developed from a keynote address delivered to the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Psychodrama Association (AANZPA) Conference in Brisbane in January 2019.
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…