- 1 -

CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM

Rydges Eagle Hawk Resort 2003

Canberra 17-19 September 2003

WHEN CARE IS NOT ENOUGH

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

- 2 -

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.

Barnardos -

- 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.

- 4 -

“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

Permanency Planning

- 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

- 6 -

Children’s well-being depends on

both a “Sense of Permanency” and also

a sense of their own “Identity”.

- 7 -

Permanency and Identity

Knowing about Birth Family

PERMANENCY means IDENTITY means

SELF - ESTEEM

(The capacity to grow and make new and satisfying relationships

as an adult)

Belonging

Family Life

Being Loved

Loving

Knowing about Past Relationships

Fitting the Present with

the Past

Appropriate Contact with

Important People from the Past

Being Valued as the Person you ARE

Security

Thoburn

- 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

- 9 -

Temporary Family Care is more than

short term foster care

therapeutic approach

family support

parenting enhancement

- 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.

- 11 -

TFC Service Components

immediate care (crisis care)

planned periodic care (weekend care)

24/7 intake service response

- 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)

- 13 -

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.

Permanency for Children in Out-of-Home Care until 18 years

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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

- 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.

- 22 -

HOW SUCCESSFUL IS BARNARDOS

AUSTRALIA IN PROVIDING

PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN VIA

TEMPORARY FAMILY CARE AND

FIND-A-FAMILY PROGRAMS?

- 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.

- 24 -

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.

Find-a-Family -

- 25 -

CAFWAA PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM

Rydges Eagle Hawk Resort 2003

Canberra 17-19 September 2003

WHEN CARE IS NOT ENOUGH

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