1 / 25

CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM

Learn about Barnardos Australia's specialist approach to achieving stability in foster care through their Temporary Family Care and Find A Family programs. Discover the importance of permanency planning and the impact it has on children's well-being and identity.

michaelleon
Download Presentation

CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM WHEN CARE IS NOT ENOUGH Rydges Eagle Hawk Resort 2003 Canberra 17-19 September 2003 AGENCY SHOWCASE: BARNARDOS AUSTRALIA Achieving stability in foster care through a specialist approach: Barnardos Temporary Family Care and Find A Family programs Deirdre Cheers, Senior Manager South East Sydney Tina Smith, Senior Manager Adoption and Permanent Care - 1 -

  2. Barnardos - Is a major Child Welfare Agency. Most of our programs are in NSW and ACT with small services in Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Services are provided to 7,000 children per year; approximately 1,000 entries per year to Out-of-Home Care. Is involved in major advocacy work, for example the promotion and provision of LAC, LACES and SCARF. Is involved in a high level of research with Universities internationally, in the areas of Child Protection, Preventive Services and Out-of-Home Care. Find a Family (FaF) have a 10 year longitudinal study in progress. - 2 -

  3. History of Permanency Planning within Barnardos Australia 1983 - Current CEO appointed. 1983 - Permanency Planning: review of all Children in Foster Care and Research undertaken. 1984 - Find-a-Family set up based on UK Family Finders Programs. 1984 - Temporary Family Care auspiced. 1985 - Adoption Agency for primary aged children; extended to 2 years+ at DoCS request. 1990 - Permanency Planning incorporated by all programs, part of Board Strategic Plan. - 3 -

  4. Permanency Planning “Permanency Planning is generally defined as time-limited, goal directed work, which aims to help children live with nurturing adults who offer continuity and an opportunity for life time relationships.” Maluccio - 4 -

  5. Barnardos and Permanency for Children Our view of Permanency Planning has been formed by Evidence of research world-wide Experience in providing family support and temporary family care Experience of our Specialist Permanent Care Program (1984) and the outcomes for children Feedback from adults who have grown up in Barnardos’ care - 5 -

  6. Children’s well-being depends on both a “Sense of Permanency” and also a sense of their own “Identity”. - 6 -

  7. PERMANENCY means IDENTITY means Security Knowing about Past Relationships Belonging Fitting the Present with the Past Family Life Appropriate Contact with Important People from the Past Being Loved Loving Being Valued as the Person you ARE SELF - ESTEEM (The capacity to grow and make new and satisfying relationships as an adult) Thoburn Permanency and Identity Knowing about Birth Family - 7 -

  8. Permanency with Family is First Choice • Support families to rear their children • Children’s Family Centres • Youth Services • Counselling Services • Community Development • Accommodation Services • Child Care • Temporary Family Care - 8 -

  9. Temporary Family Care is more than short term foster care therapeutic approach family support parenting enhancement - 9 -

  10. Permanency for children in Temporary Family Care means: Carers recruited for their specific family support work skills. Direct contact between parents and carers in the home of the carer. Casework presumption of intensive restoration work, unless court order indicates otherwise. Attention to children’s needs for STABILITY and CONTINUITY of care. Enhanced carer payment. 24 hour carer support. - 10 -

  11. TFC Service Components immediate care (crisis care) planned periodic care (weekend care) 24/7 intake service response - 11 -

  12. How does Temporary Family Care make permanency work? Care Planning partnership with parents retaining high level contact with parents until legal orders indicate otherwise maintaining continuity (school, friends, extended family) - 12 -

  13. Permanency for Children in Out-of-Home Care until 18 years Find-a-Family specialises in services to children under 12 years on referral. Find A Family works to find adoptive and permanent foster care families for hard to place children who have been removed by the Courts from their birth families. Children are maintained in sibling groups and are placed with culturally appropriate carers. - 13 -

  14. What does Permanency mean to Children in Find-a-Family? Belonging, as well as security in a loving relationship. Family membership until adult life. - 14 -

  15. Being loved and loving The critical nature of a secure attachment to primary Carers in infancy and early childhood, for normal development of an adult, is now fully accepted. Find-a-Family’s experience is that resilience in children who have had a very poor early attachment can be enhanced by providing secure, loving, accepting relationships in the middle childhood years. Trust in the placement arrangements increases the capacity for Carers to build loving relationships not disrupted by the fear of loss. - 15 -

  16. Find-a-Family - Adoption and Permanent Family Care The program has been operating since 1985. Over 320 children have found permanent families. One third of these children have been adopted [106 children as at April 2003]. (As against Australian average of 0.7 [Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2001 - 2002]). The average age at adoption is 10 years. - 16 -

  17. Characteristics of the Children likely to be referred to Find-a-Family Likely to have had a disrupted care history, and have experienced many moves and be hard to place. Under the parental responsibility of the Minister. Likely to have been physically, emotionally and/or sexually abused and neglected. Aged 2 - 12 years but older/younger in special cases. Likely to be part of a sibling group. Likely to have emotional and testing behavioural problems, and educational difficulties. May have learning difficulties and attend a special school. - 17 -

  18. Characteristics of the Parents All are highly vulnerable. Many have been in welfare care themselves. Many have mental health, D & A and disability issues. Most are economically disadvantaged and socially isolated. All have a long history within the Welfare and Court Systems. Most feel angry at the system. Many are abusive and hostile to social welfare workers. - 18 -

  19. Qualities we are looking for-FAF Carers Able to make a long-term commitment. Able to make an attachment to a “difficult to love” child. Able to redirect children from aggressive or self destructive behaviour. Flexible, with patience and energy. Can recognise the importance of identity to a child. - 19 -

  20. How does Find-a-Family make Permanency work ? Specialist Service - Specialist Staff Case Management responsibility Matched placements Re-sourcing Carers Direct work with children Work with birth families Using the LAC case management system Arranging Adoptions After Care and Post Adoption Casework - 20 -

  21. Contact Contact involves a range of activities, from information exchange to face to face visiting. Contact is important for: Understanding of identity. Continuing pre-existing relationships. Reality testing. - 21 -

  22. HOW SUCCESSFUL IS BARNARDOS AUSTRALIA IN PROVIDING PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN VIA TEMPORARY FAMILY CARE AND FIND-A-FAMILY PROGRAMS? - 22 -

  23. TEMPORARY FAMILY CARE PROGRAMS During the 5 year period 1/7/1998-30/6/2003, Barnardos provided TFC placements for 1,945 individual children, and a total of 12,897 episodes of care. Two thirds of all care episodes were for weekend care-children supported in permanency placements with their own family. Of the remaining one third of placements (short term care, Court placements etc), 85% resulted in children returning home. - 23 -

  24. Find-a-Family - • 80% of children are still in their first placement. • 106 have been adopted of which: • 51 made with full consent of parents and/or young people who have been in the program for a number of years. • 47 have involved some dispensation action. • 7 contested (5 only to full hearing). • 15 applications involved children over 12 years who had been with their Carers for more than 5 years. Only their consent was required. - 24 -

  25. CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM WHEN CARE IS NOT ENOUGH Rydges Eagle Hawk Resort 2003 Canberra 17-19 September 2003 AGENCY SHOWCASE: BARNARDOS AUSTRALIA Achieving stability in foster care through a specialist approach: Barnardos Temporary Family Care and Find A Family programs Deirdre Cheers, Senior Manager South East Sydney Tina Smith, Senior Manager Adoption and Permanent Care - 25 -

More Related