Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:45:27.645Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘It's a Family Responsibility’: Family and Cultural Connection for Aboriginal Children in Kinship Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2014

Meredith Kiraly ,
Julieanne James  and
Cathy Humphreys
Meredith Kiraly*
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Department of Social Work, University of Melbourne, Australia
Julieanne James
Affiliation:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Liaison Officer knowmore (Free legal help to navigate the Royal Commission), Melbourne, Australia
Cathy Humphreys
Affiliation:
Professor of Social Work, University of Melbourne, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Meredith Kiraly, 3 Wattle Grove, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Kinship care as a form of protective care in Australia has grown considerably over the past decade. The University of Melbourne Family Links: Kinship Care and Family Contact research project comprised a survey of kinship carers and consultations with key stakeholders. Given the significant over-representation of Indigenous children in kinship care arrangements, the project included a nested study of Indigenous kinship care. Research participants stressed the imperative for Indigenous children to be connected to family, community and culture. However, survey responses indicated that in many cases, family and cultural connections were not being assisted by cultural support planning. Indigenous caseworkers described the complexities of facilitating family contact, highlighting good practice as well as dilemmas and shortcomings in culturally sensitive practice. There was much evidence of the straitened circumstances of Indigenous kinship carers and unmet support needs among carers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Suggestions are made about ways in which children in kinship care might be better supported to maintain their family relationships.

Keywords

Indigenous issueskinship careout of home carechild protectionfamilies
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 23 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2004). Child Protection Australia 2002–2003 Child Welfare Series. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011a). Child Protection Australia 2009–2010. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2011b). The health and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, an overview 2011. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2014a). Australia's health. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2014b). Child protection Australia: 2012–13. Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Boetto, H. (2010). Kinship care: A review of issues. Family Matters, 85, 60–67.Google Scholar
Bromfield, L., & Osborn, A. (2007). Kinship care. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies National Child Protection Clearinghouse.Google Scholar
Burgess, C., Rossvoll, F., Wallace, B., & Daniel, B. (2010). ‘It's just like another home, just another family, so it's nae different.’ Children's voices in kinship care: A research study about the experience of children in kinship care in Scotland. Child and Family Social Work, 15, 297–306.Google Scholar
Cashmore, J., & Ainsworth, F. (2004). Audit of Australian out-of-home care research. Sydney: Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia, Association of Children's Welfare Agencies.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W., & Plano-Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Curtin, M., & Fossey, E. (2007). Appraising the trustworthiness of qualitative studies: Guidelines for occupational therapists. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 54, 88–94.Google Scholar
Elarde, P., & Tilbury, C. (2007). The experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers in the child protection system. Children Australia, 32 (2), 8–14.Google Scholar
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. (1997). Bringing them home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Sydney: HREOC.Google Scholar
Kiraly, M., & Humphreys, C. (2011). ‘It is the story of all of us’: Learning from Aboriginal communities about supporting family connection. Family Links: Kinship Care and Family Contact Research Series Report 2. Melbourne: Office of the Child Safety Commissioner and University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Kiraly, M., & Humphreys, C. (2012). Perspectives from young people about family contact in kinship care: ‘Don't push us—listen more’. Australian Social Work, 66 (3), 314–327.Google Scholar
Kiraly, M., & Humphreys, C. (2013). A tangled web: Parental contact with children in kinship care. Child and Family Social Work, Online (early view) 11 January.Google Scholar
Koorie Heritage Trust. (2013). Indigenous cross cultural awareness training. Retreived from http://www.koorieheritagetrust.com/cultural_educationGoogle Scholar
McHugh, M. (2003). A further perspective on kinship care: Indigenous foster care. Developing Practice, Summer (8), 14–24.Google Scholar
NHMRC. (2003). Values and ethics: Guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Onemda. (2008). We can like research . . . in Koori hands: A community report on Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit's Research Workshops in 2007. Melbourne: Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit, The University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Perry, G., Daly, M., & Kotler, J. (2012). Placement stability in kinship and non-kin foster care: A Canadian study. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 460–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
QSR International. (2010). NVivo 9. Doncaster, Victoria, Australia: QSR International Pty Ltd.Google Scholar
Sallnas, M., Vinnerljung, B., & Westermark, P. K. (2004). Breakdown of teenage placements in Swedish foster and residential care. Child and Family Social Work, 9, 141–152.Google Scholar
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC). (2004a). Indigenous Parenting Project. Melbourne: SNAICC.Google Scholar
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC). (2004b). Research priorities for Indigenous children and youth (pp. 1–29). Melbourne: SNAICC.Google Scholar
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC). (2005). Policy Paper: Achieving stable and culturally strong out of home care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (pp. 1–30). Melbourne: SNAICC.Google Scholar
State of Victoria. (2005). Children, Youth and Families Act No.96 Victoria Aust (2005).Google Scholar
State of Victoria DHS. (2005). Plan for Aboriginal children in care to retain their culture. Media Release.Google Scholar
Van Bennekom, F. (2007). Statistical confidence in a survey: How many is enough? Retrieved from http://www.greatbrook.com/survey_statistical_confidence.htmGoogle Scholar
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Association. (2005). Caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Association.Google Scholar