Personalised Budgets: What Is the Future for Child Protection?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Ann Dadich ◽  
Susan Evans ◽  
Kenny D Lawson ◽  
Brian Stout
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Potential Benefits

Abstract As the Australian state of New South Wales considers the adoption of a policy of personalised budgets in child protection, questions arise regarding how such a policy could take shape and how it would impact service delivery to promote safety and well-being amongst vulnerable children. This article presents findings from a mixed-method, realist evaluation of a pilot programme that adopted some of the features of personalised budgets, namely, personalisation, brokerage and keyworkers. Drawing on literature on personalised budgets in disability and aged care, the article highlights the features, potential benefits and challenges of personalised budgets in child protection. It concludes by arguing for a better understanding of how personalised budgets could benefit vulnerable children. This might involve: defining the roles of brokers and keyworkers, developing ways to increase service user engagement, clarifying implications for the wider service sector and planning for the provision of required supports and services for children and families.

Confidentiality in child protection cases Who benefits?

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth ◽  
Patricia Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
Children's Court ◽  
Court Proceedings ◽  
Children’S Court ◽  
Many Sources

Child protection legislation in every Australian state and territory prohibits the disclosure of the identity of a person who acts as a mandatory reporter. There is also provision in most child protection legislation that prevents the naming of children and families in protection cases. It is argued that disclosure is not in the interests of the child, the family or the general public. Children's Court proceedings in most states and territories in Australia are closed to the public so that, unlike in most other jurisdictions, interested parties are not able to observe the proceedings. Child protection authorities also have considerable power to collect information about children and families from many sources. This power to obtain information is compounded by legislation which removes confidentiality provisions from professional codes of ethics. Furthermore, the rules of evidence do not ordinarily apply in the Children's Court. This article uses New South Wales as the exemplar state and raises questions about all of these issues.

scholarly journals THE CHOICE BETWEEN ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE AS CHILD PROTECTION RESPONSES

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Gay
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Outcomes For Children

Child protection systems in Australia are struggling to cope with the growing number of children requiring out-of-home care because of abuse or neglect occurring within families. Professionals and governments are grappling with the alternative care options that are available in an attempt to improve children’s health, education and emotional development. Research demonstrates that children suffer if they are exposed to multiple placements throughout childhood and this leads some to believe that the permanency of adoption would better serve the needs of children from broken families. This article considers the recent proposal by the South Australian State Coroner to expand the role of adoption as a child protection response, noting that New South Wales introduced such a model in 2014. It also examines international approaches in this area as well as the findings of studies into foster care and adoption. By drawing together the knowledge gained from different policy and practice approaches to out-of-home care, this article argues that introducing a blanket approach favouring adoption is not an appropriate option. It concludes that the only model likely to achieve the best outcomes for children is one involving individual responses to every child.

Systemic barriers to effective implementation of child protection reform in Israel

2019 ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
Ravit Alfandari
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
The Impact

This chapter presents a qualitative study that was conducted to investigate the implementation and outcomes of recent child protection reform in Israel. Using the ‘systems approach’ as conceptual framework allowed to understand the impact of the working conditions on every-day child protection practices. The key finding of the research – that the reform’s aims of strengthening practice and improving the safety and well-being of vulnerable children have not been entirely achieved – is explained by the organisational working environment and culture acting as barriers to the expected change. Findings touch on in particular: heavy workloads and an organisational culture that seeks opportunities to shortcut procedures and processes; inadequate professional supervision and support; insufficient training and qualifications; and lack of strong organisational leadership. It is concluded that organisations’ underlying problems need to be resolved if effective delivery of services for children and families is to be achieved.

Child consultation and the law in the Northern Territory of Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (02) ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
Danielle Kendall-Hall
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Mandatory Training ◽  
The Law

AbstractConsultation with children is a delicate art, and consultation with vulnerable children, even more so. Experienced clinicians believe best practice in undertaking such work requires tertiary studies in social work or psychology combined with extensive supervised clinical experience. The current pathways to becoming a children’s lawyer in the Northern Territory do not involve mandatory training in child well-being, and yet lawyers are asked to consult with highly traumatised children and bring the voices of children into the courtroom. Lawyers for young children are additionally required to provide an opinion as to what they believe to be in the best interests of the child, without a social work or psychology-based qualification, training or in-depth guidelines to support their position. This article looks at what the law says about child consultation, what child development research says about child consultation and child consultation in practice in a Northern Territory child protection setting. At its conclusion, the author discusses potential pathways forward for lawyers and clinicians to work together in safe practices of child consultation.

Tourism Reform, Policy and Development in Queensland, 1989–2011

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Dredge
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Full Time Equivalent ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Multiplier Effects ◽  
Local Pressures ◽  
Global And Local

Tourism has been a major driver of economic and social development in Queensland since the end of World War II. In 2011, tourism's direct contribution to the economy was estimated to be $7.8 billion, and it generated direct employment of an estimated 118,000 full-time equivalent jobs (Queensland Tourism 2011). The multiplier effects of tourism account for another $9.2 billion, making it the most important component of the state's service sector. These figures suggest that the approach adopted by the Labor government over the last two decades to manage and develop Queensland tourism has generally been positive. However, a closer examination of recent trends and criticisms reveals that visitor demand has flat-lined: the industry is struggling under the weight of global and local pressures, investment has slowed, and there are issues of stagnating demand, competitiveness, service quality, industry capacity and innovation. Moreover, Queensland is losing international market share compared with New South Wales and Victoria (Tourism Research Australia 2011). Given that governments have a key role to play in creating and maintaining policy conditions that contribute to both a healthy economy and social well-being, what have been the Queensland Labor government's contributions to tourism, and what are the key challenges into the future?

An exploratory study on open adoptions from foster care in NSW, Australia: Adoptees’ psychosocial functioning, adoptive relationships, post-adoption contact and supports

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
Andrea del Pozo de Bolger ◽  
Debra Dunstan ◽  
Melissa Kaltner
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Open Adoptions

This is an exploratory study focused on open adoptions from foster care conducted through the public child protection agency in New South Wales, Australia. The results from an online survey completed by 23 respondents indicated that most of the adoptees were reportedly in the normative range of adjustment, had positive relationships with their adoptive parents and had ongoing contact with their birth families. Most of the adoptive parents had received pre-adoption supports to encourage post-adoption contact. These preliminary results are encouraging, but larger and preferably longitudinal studies are needed to guide decision-making regarding adoptions from foster care. The new challenge for the child welfare system is how to collect reliable data about the well-being of children already living in this permanent type of care and how best to support them.

scholarly journals Christian Pastors and Alleged Child Witches in Kinshasa, DRC

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Priest ◽  
Abel Ngolo ◽  
Timothy Stabell
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Spiritual Disciplines ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Transformative Engagement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pastoral Leaders

Against earlier predictions, witch accusations are proliferating and flourishing in many modern, urban, and Christian environments. And they are taking new forms. One dramatic change involves who is accused, with children now often the prime suspects when misfortunes occur. Another dramatic change relates to who is consulted when witch suspicions are present. Rather than non-Christian diviners or traditional healers, many now consult Christian pastors and prophets for help in identifying witches and dealing with them. Based on a survey of 713 pastoral leaders in Kinshasa from all major church traditions, and on supplemental qualitative research, this report 1) explores the profile of accused children, 2) identifies what these children are accused of, 3) identifies what sorts of evidence are used to establish the guilt of the accused child, and 4) considers the consequences to the child of being labeled a witch. Furthermore, this report explores what it is that church leaders believe, teach, and practice in relationship to child-witch allegations—considering the role of church tradition and theological education on their patterns of understanding and engagement. Specifically, we identify and examine two broad paradigms widely present in Kinshasa churches—a “witch diagnosis and deliverance paradigm” and a “child protection paradigm.” We consider some grassroots strategies of transformative engagement engaged in by l’Équipe Pastorale auprès des Enfants en Détresse [EPED] leaders, and end by inviting African theological and pastoral leaders into a conversation about the impact of theological understandings, congregational discourses, spiritual disciplines, and pastoral practices on the well-being and flourishing of vulnerable children.

Moral anguish and systemic failure: Notes on state child care and protection in Australia

1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Bessant ◽  
Richard Hil
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
State Child ◽  
The Media ◽  
Provision Of Care

A recent, widely-publicised report based on a two year inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Equal Opportunity Commission highlighted a range of serious shortcomings in the provision of care and protection for some of Australia’s most vulnerable children and young people. According to the report, Australia’s child protection system has failed in its basic duty of protecting children and young people from abuse and exploitation. The report confirms the argument presented in this paper that the abuse and neglect experienced by children and young people while under the care and protection of the state is systemic and widespread. While the media prefers to devote attention to ‘spectacular’ instances of departmental failure in regard to care and protection, the extent of the failures is far more routine than was initially apparent. One of the more vulnerable groups of young people ‘in care’ are state wards. Unfortunately the government’s record in respect to these young people indicates that many may be placed at greater risk in terms of their health, safety and general well-being after they have been taken into state ‘care’.

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