Recent Australian child protection and out-of-home care research: What’s been done – and what needs to be done?

A research-led reform strategy is urgently required in the field of child protection in Australia. While international research can be a valuable resource, a strong research base which is relevant to this country’s needs, legislation and service systems is essential. Two recent audits of Australian research completed over the past decade – one on out-of-home care and the other on child protection more broadly – have highlighted significant gaps in existing research. There is a number of important topics that have not been addressed – as well as an over-reliance on small-scale, qualitative studies and a very low level of funding for research. This paper explores these gaps and identifies crucial areas for development, encompassing: the development of a national child protection and out-of-home care research agenda; adequate funding for research, especially for multi-site, cross-jurisdictional studies; and closer collaboration between researchers, policymakers and practitioners to close the gap between what we know and what we do.

Download Full-text

Out-of-home care: Building a national research agenda

Children Australia ◽

10.1017/s1035077200005526 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 5-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Judy Cashmore ◽

Frank Ainsworth

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Service Providers ◽

Research Question ◽

Reliable Data ◽

Family Welfare ◽

Adequate Funding ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Research Findings ◽

Rapid Transfer

This article presents the argument for the development of a national research agenda for out-of-home care and what is needed to make this agenda work. The need for a commitment to research, adequate funding and access to reliable data, plus the rapid transfer of research findings, into practice, is outlined. It also reports on the outcomes of a research agenda-building workshop sponsored by the National Child and Family Welfare Research Coalition and held in September 2002. This workshop provided an opportunity to generate a list of research question that researchers, service providers and practitioners saw as significant priorities in a national research agenda.

Download Full-text

Australian Foster Carers’ Views and Concerns Regarding Maternal Drug Use and the Safety of Breastmilk

Children ◽

10.3390/children8040284 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 284

Author(s):

Stacy Blythe ◽

Kath Peters ◽

Emma Elcombe ◽

Elaine Burns ◽

Karleen Gribble

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Online Survey ◽

Infant Health ◽

Health Issues ◽

Child Protection Workers ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Maternal Caregiving ◽

Health And Development ◽

Major Factors

Parental substance misuse and mental health issues are major factors associated with infant placement into out-of-home care. Such placements may result in disruption and/or cessation of breastfeeding. Provision of breastmilk to infants in out-of-home care (OOHC) is desirable in terms of infant health and development, and also in supporting maternal caregiving. However, little is known about how breastfeeding is supported for infants in out-of-home care. This study used an online survey to explore the facilitation of breastfeeding in the context of OOHC and foster carers’ management of expressed breastmilk (EBM). Foster carers were generally open to the idea of maternal breastfeeding and infants in their care receiving EBM from their mothers. However, the majority of respondents expressed concern regarding the safety of EBM for infant consumption due to the possibility of harmful substances in the milk. Concerns regarding the safety of handling EBM were also prevalent. These concerns caused foster carers to discard EBM. Findings suggest foster carers’ may lack knowledge related to maternal substance use and breastmilk. Better integration between health care and social service systems, where the voices of mothers, foster carers and child protection workers are heard, is necessary to develop solutions enabling infants living in OOHC access to their mother’s breastmilk.

Download Full-text

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Ethnic Inequalities in Child Protection and Out-of-Home Care Intervention Rates

The British Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1093/bjsw/bcw165 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. bcw165 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul Bywaters ◽

Josephine Kwhali ◽

Geraldine Brady ◽

Tim Sparks ◽

Elizabeth Bos

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Ethnic Inequalities ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Care Intervention

Download Full-text

Kinship Care and Child Protection in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/15248380211036073 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152483802110360

Author(s):

Nutmeg Hallett ◽

Joanna Garstang ◽

Julie Taylor

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Child Protection ◽

Kinship Care ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

High Income ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Abuse And Neglect

Kinship care is a global phenomenon with a long history, which in high-income countries (HICs) at least, is being increasingly formalized through legislation and policy. There are many benefits to kinship care, including improved child mental health and well-being when compared to other types of out-of-home care. Despite this, kinship care is not without its risks with a lack of support and training for kinship carers putting children at an increased risk of abuse and neglect. This scoping review was conducted across 11 databases to explore the breadth and depth of the literature about abuse and neglect within kinship care in HICs and to provide initial indications about the relationship between kinship care and abuse. Of the 2,308 studies initially identified, 26 met the inclusion criteria. A majority of studies were from the United States, and most used case review methods. From the included studies, rates of re-abuse, and particularly rates of physical and sexual abuse, appear to be lower in kinship care settings when compared to other out-of-home care settings, but rates of neglect are often higher. This review has demonstrated that a small but significant number of children living in kinship care experience neglect or abuse.

Download Full-text

Anger and Attention Problems as Mechanisms Linking Maltreatment Subtypes and Witnessed Violence to Social Functioning Among Children in Out-of-Home Care

Child Maltreatment ◽

10.1177/10775595211038926 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107755952110389

Author(s):

John L. Cooley ◽

Heather N. Taussig

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Aggressive Behavior ◽

Social Functioning ◽

Child Protection ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Attention Problems ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Peer Problems ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Physical Neglect

Research has consistently shown that child maltreatment and witnessed violence lead to disrupted patterns of social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these pathways remain unclear. This cross-sectional study evaluated whether anger and/or attention problems mediated the links from abuse, neglect, and witnessed violence to peer problems and aggressive behavior. Participants included a diverse sample of 470 children (ages 8–11; 52.1% boys) living in out-of-home care. Subtype and severity of maltreatment exposure were coded using Child Protection Services’ intake reports and court records. Witnessed violence and anger were assessed using child-reports, and caregivers provided ratings of attention problems and social functioning. Indirect effects were tested using a series of structural equation path analysis models. Results indicated that anger fully mediated the links from witnessed violence to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. Further, attention problems fully mediated the links from physical abuse and physical neglect to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. These findings highlight the need for interventions to target anger regulation and attentional control among children in out-of-home care in order to mitigate their risk for social maladjustment.

Download Full-text

Do you love me? An empirical analysis of the feeling of love amongst children in out-of-home care

International Journal of Social Pedagogy ◽

10.14324/111.444.ijsp.2017.07 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mette Lausten ◽

Signe Frederiksen

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Subjective Feeling ◽

Children And Young People ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Social Pedagogy ◽

Fundamental Part ◽

Moderating Factors ◽

Loving Care ◽

Danish Survey

Questions about whether love can be offered in residential child care units, whether combining child protection and safeguarding in social work with loving care or care with love is possible, and whether children and young people feel loved by someone who is paid to care for them, have raised long-standing issues. Social pedagogy puts such questions at the core of its philosophy and practice, and has been a fundamental part of care in Denmark for many years. Drawing on a Danish survey of 1,400 children in out-of-home care, this paper analyses the subjective feeling of love amongst children living in out-of-home care. The main moderating factors for feeling loved are the feeling of security and the feeling of social support, the tangible counterpart of Honneth’s concept of recognition.

Download Full-text

School Absenteeism Associated With Child Protection System Involvement, Maltreatment Type, and Time in Out-of-Home Care

Child Maltreatment ◽

10.1177/1077559520907682 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 433-445

Author(s):

Jason M. Armfield ◽

Emmanuel Gnanamanickam ◽

Ha T. Nguyen ◽

James C. Doidge ◽

Derek S. Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Protection System ◽

School Absenteeism ◽

The Public ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Cohort Design ◽

Maltreatment Type ◽

The Relationship

Greater school absenteeism is associated with numerous negative educational outcomes. We used a retrospective cohort design with linked administrative data on 296,422 children to examine the relationship between school absenteeism and child protection system (CPS) involvement. Children with substantiated maltreatment had 4.1 times more unexplained and problem absences than children with no CPS involvement. In multivariate analyses, children with substantiated maltreatment had significantly greater “chronic” truancy ( OR = 3.41) and less “acceptable” levels of absences ( OR = 0.74) compared to children with no CPS involvement. Greater absenteeism was seen for children with substantiated neglect and who had their first CPS notification earlier in life. Being in out-of-home care for 3+ years was a protective factor for children who had a CPS notification before age 5. Additional adversities had a strong additive effect with CPS involvement on absenteeism and chronic truancy. This study demonstrates the potential scope for reducing problem absenteeism and helps inform the public debate regarding how the type and timing of CPS involvement might ameliorate or exacerbate harm for children.

Download Full-text

Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care: Treating and preventing individual, programmatic and systems abuse.

Children Australia ◽

10.1017/s103507720000794x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 17-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jo Cavanagh

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Social Stress ◽

Vulnerable Children ◽

Developmental Needs ◽

Children And Young People ◽

Child Protection Services ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

The Family

It is well recognised that the maltreatment of children results from a range of factors; some residing within the person, their family history and background, and others, clearly attributable to social stress and difficulties originating external to the family. In the last few decades, child welfare efforts have centred on the improvement of Child Protection Services and raising the prevention of child abuse as a community concern. More recently, attention has been focussed on strengthening the capacity of families to nurture and protect their own as the best means of meeting the developmental needs of children. However, our best efforts to assist families may still necessitate removal to protect the child.Research has identified that children removed for their own protection may be at even greater risk in out-of-home care. (Ryan 1987, Dawson 1984) Whether the incidence of abuse of children in out-of-home care is currently equivalent or higher than for the general population, is at this point a secondary concern. Out-of-home care is an essential and complex service. It is imperative to acknowledge that abuse can occur within the very system entrusted with the responsibility of protecting and caring for vulnerable children and young people.

Download Full-text

The national out-of-home care data collection: Where to from here?

Children Australia ◽

10.1017/s1035077200005587 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 45-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Helen Johnstone

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Home Care ◽

Child Protection ◽

Current Data ◽

National Data ◽

Out Of Home Care ◽

Australian Institute ◽

Collection Process ◽

Data Collection Process ◽

Care Systems

This paper outlines the parameters of the national out-of-home care data collection managed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The paper discusses the need for national data, what is included in the national data collection and the current data collection process. In addition possible developments to the national collection are outlined, in particular the proposal to collect the data electronically in unit record format. The benefits of this would include greater flexibility of the data and the ability to analyse how children move through the child protection and out-of-home care systems.

Download Full-text