“We don’t want you to come in and make a decision for us”: Traversing cultural authority and responsive regulation in Australian child protection systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharynne L. Hamilton ◽  
Sarah Maslen ◽  
Brad Farrant ◽  
Nicole Ilich ◽  
Carol Michie
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Cultural Authority ◽  
Australian Child ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Responsive Regulation ◽  
To Come

Redressing ‘unwinnable battles’: Towards institutional justice capital in Australian child protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 144078332110102
Author(s):  
Sharynne L Hamilton ◽  
Sarah Maslen
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Parental Rights ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Australian Child ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Systemic Nature ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
The Individual

Australia’s history of negative child protection outcomes for children in state care highlights the sustained, systemic nature of serious harm. Situated in emerging conversations on structural challenges and state violence for parents involved in child protection systems, we trace the resources and barriers to responsive and ‘just’ child protection practice, highlighting how institutions can serve to compound disadvantage and injustice. We argue that addressing challenges such as access to advocacy at the level of the individual is to miss the underlying politics of oppression that serves to keep families marginalised. Instead, we need to rethink how parental rights and responsibilities are best facilitated at institutional levels – what we term institutional justice capital. This requires public conversation about thresholds for child removal, transparent treatment of families, access to mechanisms to challenge the determinations of child protection authorities, and inter-organisational respect and collaboration to support families to navigate complex and multiple systems.

scholarly journals Working for the Welfare: Support and Supervision Needs of Indigenous Australian Child Protection Practitioners

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 277
Author(s):  
Fiona Oates ◽  
Kaylene Malthouse
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Australian Child ◽  
Indigenous Children ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately represented in all parts of the child protection system in Australia. The recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners into child protection systems to work with Indigenous families at risk underpins the government strategy to reduce this over-representation. However, little is known about the experiences of Indigenous people who undertake child protection work or what their support and supervision needs may be. This research is centered on Indigenous Australian child protection practitioners as experts in their own experiences and as such includes large excerpts of their own narratives throughout. Practitioner narratives were collected via qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews. Critical theory and decolonising frameworks underpinned the research design. The study found that Indigenous child protection practitioners have a unique place in the families, communities and profession. Many viewed their work in the child protection field as an extension of their Indigeneity. This coupled with the historical experience of state-sanctioned removal of Indigenous children during colonisation and contemporarily, informs the need for child protection workplaces to re-think the support and supervision afforded to Indigenous practitioners.

Maltreatment Type Classifications and Transitions During Childhood for a California Birth Cohort

2021 ◽  
pp. 107755952110067
Author(s):  
John Prindle ◽  
Regan Foust ◽  
Emily Putnam-Hornstein
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
Latent Transition Analysis ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Transition Analysis ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Maltreatment Type

Childhood maltreatment involves dynamics between the type of maltreatment experienced and the context of maltreatment. Reports of alleged maltreatment to child protective services may overlap and shift over time, complicating understanding of their independent and interacting nature, including how child protection systems respond. Latent class analysis (LCA) and latent transition analysis (LTA) were used to construct data-based models of longitudinal dynamics of alleged maltreatment throughout childhood. We sought to identify patterns leading to system decisions to substantiate allegations of maltreatment and place children in foster care. Using linked birth and child protection records, we defined a cohort of children born in California in 1999, 29.4% of whom had at least one referral for alleged maltreatment before their 18th birthday. Maltreatment and perpetrator indicators were coded, and LCA identified five alleged maltreatment classes and one class of children without referrals. LTA determined consistency of classifications and estimated transitions between classes over age periods. Children with multitype maltreatment patterns or experiences of neglect were most likely to experience future maltreatment allegations. Estimated probabilities of placement indicated children with Multitype Maltreatment allegations were more likely to experience substantiated maltreatment allegations and out-of-home placements. Findings identify a repeatable method for better understanding complex systems.

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