bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rights, obligations and the public sphere: Arguments and options for securing just policies for young people
Authors: Bessant Judith 
Published: March 2016

Children and young people have too easily been subjected to state-sponsored mistreatment and neglect. One primary reason for the discriminatory and often hostile conduct directed at them by agencies ostensibly established to promote their welfare is that they have been ‘constructed’ as dangerous and ‘antisocial’, or as dependent, incompetent and naïve. A key aim of this article is to promote discussion about the significance of children's and young people's status as a key determinant of policies which routinely override their basic rights. The article argues that attention needs to be given to how child and youth policies can be developed more securely within a justice framework.I argue that, if we are serious about developing both just policies and ethical relationships with young people, we need to recognise the role played by dominant narratives about young people in shaping policies. Once this is achieved, attention can then be directed towards how those identities might be contested and reconstructed. I offer a number of suggestions for securing ethical treatment of young people which includes respecting them as fully-fledged human beings and citizens. I argue that challenging common-sense understandings of young people as dependent, not fully intellectually or morally competent, etc, can inform policies in ways that secure young people's entitlements as full citizens. In particular one way of challenging popular views about young people is to increase their involvement in the public sphere. The fact that most young people cannot currently claim rights for themselves directly is no reason for denying them. Indeed it is a good reason for securing mechanisms for monitoring those who have children in their care and to intervene to put those rights into effect. I also make a case for embedding young people's rights into an account of obligations that can be used to secure respectful and just conduct on the part of older people who have young people in their care.
Unfounded assumptions and the abandonment of ‘at risk’ youth
Authors: Ainsworth Frank 
Published: March 2016

At a recent New South Wales forum about the future of residential care, various speakers cited what they thought were the key themes that should guide thinking about the development of future residential programs for ‘at risk’ youth. The themes were that these programs must be small, local and, somewhat less confidently, that they should only be used as a ‘last resort’ when all other ways of addressing the care and treatment needs of these young people have been tried. It was also noted that funding for programs should reflect the level of staff expertise required when programs are treatment rather than accommodation focussed, although what this might mean in practice was not explored. These are all themes that are part of any discussion about the future of the residential component of the out-of-home care system.The contention of this paper is that these themes are based on unfounded assumptions. When used in service planning to guide future services these assumptions contribute to the abandonment of ‘at risk’ youth to either no service or services that are less than adequate. The themes are explored by applying them to services in other sectors that also deal with ‘at risk’ youth, namely, health, education and criminal justice. The conclusion is that these themes should be replaced with others that will enable community service organisations to develop more appropriate services for ‘at risk’ youth.
Professional credibility and public trust in those working with young people
Authors: Bessant Judith 
Published: March 2016

As the embarrassment and shame around the ‘resignation’ of our last Governor-General indicates, the abuse of children and young people has become a major public issue. An increasing body of Australian research reveals a history of violence against young people while media reports reveal a history of serious physical and sexual abuse and exploitation of young people by professionals responsible for their care and protection.Moreover much of this systemic abuse took place in educational and welfare sectors that were and are relatively unregulated in respect to the professionalisation of workers. While there are now formal professional registration processes affecting teachers and psychologists, there is no equivalent for youth workers, social workers or community development workers.The disclosures of abuse and neglect revealed the suffering and harm experienced by young people, and in turn seriously damaged the professional standing of those working with young people, as well as the public trust traditionally conferred on professions and institutions.I argue that restoring public trust in the institutions and services where abuse took place, and indeed may still be happening, is an issue of considerable importance.I critically review the conditions necessary for restoring public trust. Those conditions include improved governance and systematic improvements in the intellectual and professional education of youth workers to ensure that they have the requisite capabilities such as critical insight, advocacy skills and political resolve. The value of establishing a code of professional practice ethics is also considered.Finally it is argued that advocating for young people's rights is another means of securing their well-being and workers' professional standing. I point out, however, that the rights option is somewhat limited because, although it obligates, it does not specify who owes the obligation, and for this reason rights talk too often remains ineffectual because it's abstracted. I suggest that the identification of obligations is also necessary for securing public trust and young people's well-being because, unlike rights, they specify who is bound and to whom the obligation is owed.
The place of social justice in strengths-based social welfare work
Authors: Reimer Elizabeth C. , Nixon Dianne 
Published: March 2016

This paper attempts to unpack strengths-based practice in social welfare in order to reveal the location of social justice within such an approach. Firstly, this paper will briefly explore the origins of a strengths approach, including historical development of the approach, mentioning some specific practice theories. The paper will then investigate the concepts, using Jim Ife's (1998) model of a social justice perspective in community development to achieve this.The two approaches will then be discussed in terms of how they should be used together to support not only positive casework, but effective social action, using the work of UnitingCare Burnside as examples.
Moving out from the state parental home: A comparison of leaving care policies in Victoria and New South Wales
Authors: Mendes Philip , Moslehuddin Badal 
Published: March 2016

Young people leaving care are arguably one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society. Compared to most young people, they face numerous barriers to accessing educational, employment and other developmental and transitional opportunities.Using information from interviews and a range of documents, this study compares the leaving care supports currently available in two Australian states, Victoria and New South Wales. Attention is drawn to the history of the leaving care debate in both states, the nature of the existing legislative and program supports for care leavers in each state, the key political and policy actors that have either helped or hindered the development of leaving care policies and services in each state, and the principal unmet needs of care leavers in each state.The findings suggest that NSW leads the way in terms of providing effective legislative and program supports to care leavers. The differences between Victoria and NSW are attributed to a number of factors including particularly the different relationships between the respective government bureaucracies and non-government child welfare sectors.
Learning together about the needs of parents with a mental illness and their children: The implementation of the Mums' and Dads' Practice Research Project
Authors: Alakus Carmel 
Published: March 2016

The busy clinical practitioner, while being encouraged to innovate and formally evaluate his or her work, has less time than ever before to do either.The Mums' and Dads' Project represented a modest attempt to implement a short-term parent education project in adult mental health and review it in the style of practice-research. A number of qualitative methods were employed to research the Project conducted in the Mid West Area Mental Health Service exploring consumer satisfaction and parents' perspectives of their children's needs.Consumers attended the sessions readily, demonstrating knowledge of child development and a willingness to confront the difficult issue of informing children about mental illness. They reiterated how much they appreciated meeting other parents with a mental illness.Service delivery to parents with a mental illness and their children deserves dedicated funding if their needs are to be addressed and programs carefully evaluated.
Working together works well: A longitudinal evaluation of a family-based placement program for children with a disability and very high support needs
Authors: Hind Julie , Woodland Judith 
Published: March 2016

This paper is based on a three-year longitudinal evaluation of a family-based placement and support program for children with disabilities and high support needs. Particular lessons emerged about the importance of partnerships: between caseworker and alternative family; the alternative family and the birth family; and the caseworker and the birth family.The evaluation used case studies, following ten children through the life of the study. A qualitative approach drew on people's experiences to understand individual perspectives and to identify patterns and themes to gain insight into the factors contributing to success.The study was informed by international literature, including: Maluccio et al (1983, 1986) and Smith (1995) in relation to permanency planning; Thoburn (1986, 1990, 1994) and Wedge (1986) in relation to hard-to-place children; and Argent and Kerrane (1997) who demonstrate that continuing contact between birth and alternative families can work well with support from workers.This article focuses on one part of the evaluation - the development of relationships. The relationship between the caseworker and the alternative family is a key to the success of the placement. In the best examples of good practice, the relationship is one of partnership, with both partners having the interests of the child as their central focus.The partnership is not evident in dealing with birth families. We note the strongest relationships are where birth families have an ongoing role in caring for their child. In some cases, the alternative family takes on a role of supporting the birth family's ongoing involvement with their child. The paper explores the different relationships and points to further possible areas of future research.
Danger - Economists at Work: The joke that can damage your children's welfare
Authors: Goddard Chris 
Published: March 2016

I must admit at the outset that I only studied economics for a year. At the end of the undergraduate year, I sat an exam on the subject and passed. It was, as I recall it, a close-run thing however.A number of us had already provoked the exam adjudicators by turning up late. Students were allowed into the exam hall up to twenty minutes after the exams had started, and this being the late 1960s, it was very cool to affect nonchalance by entering ten minutes or so late after everyone else had settled down. Such a late arrival not only gave the required appearance of casual unconcern, but also caused considerable disruption, especially if the latecomer was seated in the middle of a row of scibblers. Working one's way down the line of desks, loudly muttering ‘Excuse me’, ‘So sorry’, ‘Excuse me’, and so on was guaranteed to arouse the ire of diligent student and conscientious adjudicator alike.
Moderating the consequences of child sexual abuse: The role of the family, the legal system and other support structures
Authors: Eastwood Christine , Patton Wendy 
Published: March 2016

This paper addresses the question: Are the consequences of child sexual abuse moderated or exacerbated by the family, the legal system and other support structures which are involved following disclosure? To answer this question, the present study employs a methodology which enables the young women to discuss their experiences and feelings in each of these areas. Through a four stage interview process, in- depth data was gathered from five young women whose cases had been dealt with through the legal system, and from their mothers.Given that little research has been undertaken in this area, particularly in Australia, the current work focuses on the ability of these groups to provide acceptance and validation subsequent to disclosure, and the resulting responses of the young women. The study concludes with a discussion on the effects of the response of the family, the legal system and other support on the young women, and raises some issues crucial to addressing societal response to child sexual abuse. Suggestions for further research are also offered.
The child welfare system in Victoria: Changing context and perspectives 1945-1995
Authors: Markiewicz Anne 
Published: March 2016

This paper traces the history of child welfare in Victoria, from the formation of the Children's Welfare Department to the present time. It draws principally upon the Annual Reports of the responsible state government department, to illustrate trends in out-of-home placement for children and young people admitted to care. It describes substantial shifts in direction to the institutions in the 1960s, deinstitutionalisation of the 1980s, and the re-emergence of home-based care as a favoured, economical option.The paper traces the ebbs and flows in numbers, periods of overcrowding and the current reduced number of children and young people in care. It notes events impacting on evolving child welfare history in Victoria, the child migration program, building projects, the establishment of family group homes, regionalisation, external review, the Children and Young Persons Act (1989), and mandatory reporting legislation. Themes emerging include: early child welfare as a period of rescue and reform; the monitoring of standards and re-entry of the department to residential care; the building of institutions and rising numbers in care; redevelopment and the emergence of a community focus; the expansion of child protection; and the phasing out of old models and the search for cost efficient alternatives.A challenge for the 1990s is the need for deliberate and planned monitoring and evaluation as institutional and residential care give way to home-based care, and numbers of admissions decrease. The paper aims to provide useful, historical material for readers with an interest in child welfare work which would benefit from a descriptive review of the past.
New directions for trust funding: Strengthening families and communities
Authors: Scott Dorothy 
Published: March 2016

Some leading philanthropic trusts and foundations in Australia, like those in North America, are increasingly interested in moving away from a reactive funding model in which they merely respond to requests for funding to a more proactive model in which they develop, in collaboration with those in the field, the broad parameters of innovative programs they wish to support, and then invite agencies to make expressions of interest in relation to these program dimensions.Selected programs need to be committed to evaluation and prepared to help disseminate their innovations and experiences to the field. It is this last step, from innovation to dissemination, which has often not been taken in the past, resulting in lost opportunities for valuable and cutting edge pilot projects to make an impact on practice and policy.
Good enough parenting
Authors: Tregeagle Sue , Cox Amanda , Voigt Louise 
Published: March 2016

The concept of Good Enough Parenting, introduced by Winnicott in 1965, has been useful to distinguish between care of children which is not ideal, and care which warrants removal of children from a family. There have been various attempts to turn the concept into practice guidelines, most notably by the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (Adcock & White 1985). However there is a dearth of Australian material and little which is concise.Barnardos Australia believed that it was necessary to produce a short practice paper to address this critical issue in child protection practice. This paper was developed through a series of workshops with Barnardos workers which focused on their practice needs. It was designed to assist in decisions about parenting standards which are difficult, not the most obvious situations of neglect or abuse. The paper suggests ways of thinking about good enough parenting and practical questions to bear in mind in family assessment.
‘It must be because…’: Non-biological care and mental health Part I. Setting the context
Authors: O’Neill Cas , Absler Deborah 
Published: March 2016

This article (the first of a series of three) reviews the research and literature on the connections between non-biological care (adoption, permanent care, foster care and residential care) and mental health and relates this to the policy context in Victoria.The implications of the over-representation of children who have experienced non-biological care in a mental health setting are explored.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle is about self determination
Authors: Kee Margaret Ah , Tilbury Clare 
Published: March 2016

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle has been the policy guiding the placement of indigenous children in most Australian child protection jurisdictions for around fifteen years. The Principle requires the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives in decision making concerning indigenous children, and ensuring that alternative care placements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander careproviders.Most Jurisdictions still have a significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed with non-indigenous careproviders, and community based Aboriginal and Islander child care agencies continue to express dissatisfaction about the nature and level of consultation which occurs when welfare departments are taking action to protect indigenous children.This paper, which was presented at the IFCO conference in Melbourne in July 1999, examines why there has been such limited improvement in Child Placement Principle outcomes. Work undertaken in Queensland to address the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system will be outlined from both a departmental and community perspective. The paper argues that if strategies for addressing these issues are not located within a framework of self determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, then they will not work.
A children’s perspective on child abuse
Authors: Mason Jan , Falloon Jan 
Published: March 2016

Discourses about child abuse are usually adult centred. In the research described in this paper young people were asked to give their perspectives on abuse. They described abusive behaviour as that perpetrated by persons who use their power to control those they consider as lesser.The young people described two forms of abuse. One was feeling let down by those with whom they are in an emotional relationship. The other was feeling discounted because of their age. The children and young people considered the right to negotiate or to have ‘two-way compromise’ as essential to the prevention of abuse. The power to disclose or not to disclose abuse was described as an important issue for children in enabling them to maintain some control over their situation.The research process and findings highlighted the way in which the institutionalisation of adult power over children as legitimate, excludes children’s knowledge on issues concerning them by preventing their participation in knowledge creating forums, and by discounting their competency as children to contribute.
Tracking student resilience
Authors: Howard Sue , Johnson Bruce 
Published: March 2016

In recent times, research that has traditionally concerned itself with children ‘at risk’ has been supplemented by studies which have concentrated on the characteristics of those children who display resilient behaviours despite the presence of negative individual, family or environmental factors. A range of internal and external ‘protective factors’ that contribute to childhood resilience has been identified in the literature.The research being presented here reports on one phase of a longitudinal study that is tracking children originally identified as displaying resilient or non-resilient behaviour. After one year, the persistence of resilient or non-resilient behaviours is noted among the 55 children in the study; the incidence of changed behaviour – either from resilience to non-resilience or vice versa – is low. Case studies of three children are used to illustrate the trends in the findings and to provide real examples of how the presence or absence of protective factors impact on the lives of real children.
Celebrating success: Perspectives of youth in care networking
Authors: Lum Teresa , Herbert Nicole 
Published: March 2016

The United Nations has proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to ail the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.The United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance.The United Nations is convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community.The United Nations recognizes that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.The United Nations considers that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.
Foster care on the Internet: Is there a role for the Internet in assisting with the changing face of foster care into the 21st century?
Authors: Hulskamp John 
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this paper is to provide a view and understanding of the nature of the Internet, and the possible benefits in assisting foster caregivers, foster care agencies and persons in out-of-home care.The Internet has been with us for most of this decade. Its original role was to ensure that computer-to-computer communication proceeded in a decentralised fashion, in the event of catastrophes. Such computer-to-computer communication has become so widespread and we now refer to it as the Internet. Alongside the technological development, has been the development of means of placing information on the web for all to view and its access by anyone connected to the Internet, anywhere. Further, communication between people through the use of e-mail has also developed.