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It is well established that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people are over-represented in Australian child protection and out-of-home care systems. Despite this, there has been limited analysis of their exit from care pathways. This study, based on interviews with 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth from Victoria and Western Australia (who were a sub-set of a larger study of 34 care leavers), examined their transition experiences and outcomes in relation to accessing stable and affordable housing. While all care leavers spoke of poor or non-existent…
The Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS) is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study of children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia. Information on safety, permanency and wellbeing will be collected from various sources. The child developmental domains of interest are physical health, socio-emotional wellbeing and cognitive/learning ability.
ABSTRACT
This chapter from the Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy examines how permanency for children is achieved in New Zealand in the child protection context. The permanent removal of Maori children from their families and extended family groups, including placement for adoption, has been a profound issue for Maori. The concern for Maori about the numbers of children being taken into care was a driver for the July 2019 amendments. Unlike other jurisdictions (such as England and the US), adoption of children in permanency cases has generally not been followed in New Zealand…
Abstract
Long‐term foster carers in New South Wales, Australia, are being encouraged to consider open adoption of the child in their care. This includes an agreement to facilitate direct or face‐to‐face birth family contact without agency support. There is little Australian research on the factors that influence decisions to adopt children from out‐of‐home care. A mixed methods study was conducted to address this gap. An online survey (n = 76) and four focus groups (n = 30) were conducted with foster carers across New South Wales. Descriptive and…
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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
Across Australia and internationally, growing numbers of grandparents are becoming primary carers for grandchildren, both within and outside of formal state care arrangements. Underlying factors include family breakdown, family circumstances where parents are unable to care for their children, or where there are child safety concerns. Some grandparents report a pattern of initially providing care for grandchildren but then experiencing reduced or lost contact that sometimes is not restored, in turn impacting ongoing relationships with grandchildren. A prevailing concern is the…
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This article reviews developments in the NSW child protection system which aim to reduce the number of children in state care. The first development was changes to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1988 made in 2016 that created a permanency hierarchy for children who have been removed and not restored to parental or extended family care. Under Section 10A of the Act, guardianship and adoption becomes the priority if restoration is not possible, although Aboriginal children are exempt from adoption to some extent. The more recent development, during 2017, is…
Abstract
Adoption is one of a range of options that can provide children in out-of-home care with permanency when they are unable to be reunified with their birth parents. This paper reports on how the adoption of children from out-of-home care is understood by professionals involved in making decisions about the permanent placement of children in out-of-home care in Victoria, Australia, where adoption is rarely used. Data were collected through a single, face-to-face semi-structured interview with 21 professionals; eight child welfare specialists, eight adoption and permanent care…
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Indigenous children and young people are over-represented at all stages of the Australian child protection system. Policy and legislative initiatives exist in the state of Victoria, Australia aiming to support the connection between Indigenous children and young people in state care and their culture and community. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria. Findings…